


Blood Red Heat and Black Shadows

by Ashratherose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura as the Mystical Archer of Valayun - Vala, Alpha Keith, Bottom Lance, Comfort, Darkstorm Thunderstrike, Getting Together, Hunk as Block - Freeform, Hurt, Hurt Lance, In-fiction 2020, Keith as Darkstorm Thunderspear, Keith is clueless, Keith is the confused soft boi, Keith’s/Dark’s POV for all of it, Laith, Lance as Pike, Lance’s death is adressed, Langst, M/M, Mental Illness, Not betad. We die like men, Omega Lance, PTS, Pidge as Meklavar, Pike - Freeform, Red Heat, Shiro as Gyro - Freeform, Things will get better..., Top Keith, but he tries, canon universe up to the game show, characters reflected at their worst mentally... so much negativity it hurts, cuddly octopus keith, keith is the queen of overreacting, klance, klangst, like super slow, monster and mana au, omega drop, prompt list, protective keith, rule bound Lance, sloooooooooooooooooooow progress, talks... lots of talks... so many talks..., the team have no idea how much they hurt our boy, they go adventuring and get nowhere fast
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:00:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 161,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23195146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashratherose/pseuds/Ashratherose
Summary: Prompt list found in chapter oneWe’re going off script. Screw prompt lists. Lemme have my story.After suffering an omega drop, the team find Lance unresponsive on the floor of his lion, beneath him lays Coran’s monster and mana board. Unable to rouse Lance, it’s decided that Keith would be the one to go in after him, by said omega himself. Keith is a pining idiot, the pack done gone messed up, and Lance has severe depression that everyone missed.Set after the game show episode, when Shiro is all upright and breathing.Rolling dynamics used:Shiro - Alpha-beta. Kuron - Alpha-AlphaKeith - Alpha-Alpha (alpha prime). Alpha-Beta until Shiro disappears in the Black Lion, his dynamic shifting to fill the gap of leaderHunk - Alpha-Beta. Closer to betaPidge - Alpha-Beta. Shared rank three by pack dynamicLance - Beta-Omega before death. Omega-Omega after (omega prime). Calmer of the pack... whom he didn’t tell he was a beta-omega... Whoopsies!
Relationships: Lance/Keith
Comments: 285
Kudos: 374





	1. Chapter 1

In-Fiction Prompt Lists 2020  


Day 1 - Hurt  
Day 2 - Hurt and Comfort  
Day 3 - Fluff  
Day 4 - Lost  
Day 5 - Loss Day 6 - Lust  
Day 7 - Date Night Day 8 - Confession  
Day 9 - Fight  
Day 10 - Miscommunication  
Day 11 - Injury  
Day 12 - Trouble  
Day 13 - Truth  
Day 14 - Happiness after trouble

Updated

Day 1 - Hurt  
Day 2 - Hurt and Comfort  
Day 3 - Fluff  
Day 4 - Lost  
Day 5 - Loss  
Day 6 - Lust  
Day 7 - Date Night  
Day 8 - Confession  
Day 9 - Fight  
Day 10 - Miscommunication  
Day 11 - Injury  
Day 12 - Trouble  
BONUS  
ADDED + Conversation  
Day 13 - Truth  
ADDED + Onward  
Day 14 - Happiness after trouble


	2. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! And welcome to the beginning of Keith’s confusion. I decided we all needed some world building, or the monster and mana adventure I have planned wouldn’t make much sense.

“Just leave him. He’s obviously fallen asleep with autopilot on”

“That’s so Lance, annoying even when he’s sleeping. Wake up, dummy! Your lion needs to land and recharge his core”

“Guys, what if he’s not alright?”

“Allura, this is Lance. If he wasn’t alright, the whole quiznakking universe would know”

“That’s a bit harsh, Pidge”

“Oh, come on, Hunk! Wouldn’t you feel better with a good nights sleep, without him making a scene? Or trying to draw everyone’s attention to him?”

“We can’t just leave Red out here...”

“See! You think so too. I think I speak for everyone when I say it’s been nice not hearing him on the comms as often”

“But isn’t Lance one of your team mates?”

“Krolia, you haven’t been with us long enough to know Lance. He’s always pulling stuff like this. Always sneaking off during negotiations with different alien dignitaries. You should have seen how badly he did at Bob’s game show! I can’t believe how many questions he got wrong... we could have been stuck there all because of him”

“That’s enough. Keith will tow the Red lion down to the planet, then when we get there, we’ll all have a conversation over Lance’s latest actions”

“Fiiiine. You don’t have to be such a “Space Dad” right away. You’re supposed to be resting. Keith, tell Shiro that he’s supposed to be resting!”

“I have been. He insists that he’s fine, that getting up and moving helps. We all know what he’s like guys. I’ll bring Red down, you all go ahead. Don’t worry, Pidge, I’ll be sure to send Lance to annoy you once we’re planet side” 

“Noooo. Keith, that’s not fair. After two years, isn’t it time you babysat him? We had him the whole time you were gone”

“I thought the Paladin’s of Voltron worked in a pack dynamic? Is Lance not a member of your pack, after all? If Keith is pack leader, then does it not fall on him to speak with Lance?”

“Ha! Look at that! Romelle for the win! See ya, later loser! Come on guys, let’s get down there!”

As the words of the team drifted throw Red’s cockpit, they had no idea what was waiting for them once they finally landed.

*  
Towing Red back to land planet side, Keith sighed deeply. It’d been a long time since he considered himself pack leader of their group. The shift in his dynamic caused by the loss of Shiro had left him at a constant conflict with his alpha tendencies. The mantle left by his brother’s disappearance had been too heavy for him to hold. His anger misdirected, his actions continually second guessed. It was Lance in his capacity as the packs beta that had brought him the greatest relief. Not swayed by a shift in his secondary dynamic, Lance had always stood beside him, his rock. His anchor against the waves of change. Lance had always been loud, loud and impulsive, unafraid to throw himself in harms way, or work himself to the bone for the good of the team. If not for having his secondary dynamic diagnosed at birth, as with everyone on Earth, Keith could believe that his friend had born alpha-beta, instead of beta-beta. 

His friend... 

The word hurt. He no longer knew what they were to each other. The half-Galra supposed he didn’t actually know if they were friends. Not after his comment on the game show. He’d acted rashly, covering the fact that he believed Lance deserved to be free of the war more than the four alphas of the group... The dynamic in their group had certainly changed since his departure to find his mother, Lance’s standing within the pack naturally stood as lowest, yet now it felt as if Romelle was right, that Lance was no longer a member of their pack. He’d been such a quiznakking idiot, failing all members as he focused solely on Shiro. 

“Keith, why don’t you talk to him ahead of the rest of us. Krolia and Coran will be here to keep an eye on me. Lance isn’t an alpha like the rest of us, he should stay much more rational when talking to his pack leader”  
Placing his hand on Keith’s shoulder, Shiro squeezed comfortingly. Having come so close to losing his brother forever, his alpha was hesitant to let the weakest member of their pack from his sight  
“You’re recovering”  
“And you’re deflecting. If there’s something on your mind, talk to him about it. From what I understand, you’d both reached a mutual understanding between you, before my death at any rate. Is there some other reason you don’t want to talk to him?”  
“I... I don’t think he’ll want to talk to me”  
Not after he was such a quiznakking idiot. It wasn’t his fault. Lance had no idea how his blue eyes had haunted Keith’s visions upon the space whale. He’d missed his pack, yet he’d missed Lance almost as much as he’d missed Shiro  
“Even if he doesn’t, you’re his pack leader”  
“What if he doesn’t want to be part of our pack any more?”  
Shiro’s hand moved up to ruffle his hair  
“If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do. Nor can we do anything about it until we’ve reached Earth. Would you rather I came with you?”

Despite how tempting the offer was, Keith shook his head. He hadn’t spent the last two years of his life stuck as the same scared teen he’d been. Shiro was most probably annoyingly right, as per usual. Their pack needed him to step up. They needed to address the issue of their beta, before it affected the pack’s performance as a team... and, not that he’d admit it out loud, he needed to know what Lance had been through to change him so drastically that the team no longer seemed to have space for him. Lance had snuck off from negotiations once or twice, before Keith had caught onto it, each time the beta would be simply standing outside, looking up as he longed for home. For all his flirting, the Lance he’d known wasn’t one to sleep around. 

Disembarking Black, Keith headed over to where Red sat. Her eyes already dark, and somewhat colder than he remembered them being  
“Hey, boy. It’s been a while. I hope Lance has been treating you well”  
Red didn’t respond, Keith feeling a stab in his gut. He hadn’t wanted to part from Red. Black was cool and everything, but he and Red had been through so much. Out of everyone who could have inherited Red from him, Keith was glad he went to Lance. Lance had been the foundation of their pack, he kept the others calm not caring about their alpha traits as he shoo Pidge to bed, or lead Hunk from the kitchen when he’d start stress baking. His friend had been so dependable, and now... now he felt like a stranger. Lance had said he was the future and then had to face Keith as he’d snarked at him. Perhaps his apology was long overdue, but with all that had happened, his priorities had laid with Shiro  
“I know your mad, Red. Pidge took it far too far on the comms, but I want to talk to him. He’s part of our pack... and I owe him... Will you please let me in?”

It felt reluctant as Red lowered his jaw, Keith charging up the steps before Red could change his mind, and before his courage could flee. A strange scent hit him on the steps, his alpha slamming into the forefront of his mind, screaming that something was terribly wrong inside Red. The scent... hues of sea spray and citrus sat behind the scent of something rotting. It smelt as if Lance had gathered all the rubbish from the castle’s system before it could be process and filled Red’s cockpit with it all. Bathed in Red, Red’s reserve power lights were on it, the cockpit bathed in dimmed red light. The pilot seat was empty, the doors between the room and the cargo bay sliding open. Keith gagging at the stench of blood and vomit that drifted his way. Something was very, very wrong here  
“Red, I need the lights on”

Keith wasn’t prepared for the sight before him. Lance collapsed across the floor, blood surrounded his slim body, vomit pooled around his head. Dressed in casual clothes, minus his trademark jacket, bandages ran up the lengths of both Lance’s arms, bloodied like the rest of him. Soft wheezes escaped Lance, his breathing sounding as if he’d come down pneumonia, each wet gasp a struggle. From his mind, his alpha provided the answer to the situation. Lance was an omega in a drop. Lance was an omega... in a drop. Lance was... an omega. Rushing to his friends side, Keith knelt beside him, turning Lance’s face away from the puddle clinging to the left side of his face  
“Lance!”

Flush with fever, the heat of Lance’s body bled through his gloves. Brushing the sweat damp hair from his forehead, the fever Lance was running was far to high  
“Lance? Can you hear me?”  
Coughing weakly, blood trickled from the corner of Lance’s mouth. Fuck. Fuck. How had they missed the signs?! Omegas didn’t simply drop. As a pack they should have picked up the signs that no only was Lance an omega, he was falling dangerously close to dropping. The stupid quiznakking idiot... not Lance... he couldn’t lose Lance... His alpha was screaming at him, screaming at him something he couldn’t understand. Tears fast to well in his eyes, even faster to run down his cheeks  
“You’re going to be okay... You’re going to be okay... I’ve got you, Lance”  
Cradling the unconscious omega against him, Keith opened his comms, not caring which of his team he reached. Confused, Hunk’s face popped up  
“Keith, bro? What’s up? Don’t tell me Lance has locked himself up...”  
“It’s Lance... we messed up... I need help... Quiznak... bring your med kits... and we’ll need Shiro”  
Cutting the transmission, Keith stroked Lance’s hair as he hushed him, concentrating on providing a warm scent to ease the man. Lance whimpering in pain as a shudder ran through his limp form. Quiznak... quiznak... Not Lance. From what Keith could see, blood had been coming from his nose, not just his mouth, and whatever unknown wounds had contributed to the puddle beneath him.

Supported by Coran, Shiro arrived half a dobosh behind Pidge, Hunk and Allura. All of them stopping in their tracks as they stared down him and Lance. Shiro’s voice was grim as he confirmed what Keith was thinking. Pushing their way through, Shiro wrinkled his nose at the scent in the space  
“He’s in a drop. Coran, you assist Keith. If he’s dropped there’s a danger he’s either gone feral or into a red heat. Hunk and Pidge, you’ll need to step out. Right now, his condition is serious. Too many alphas will confuse his body”  
Keith nodded, Hunk moving to obey Shiro’s words as he passed his med-kit into Coran’s hold. Grabbing his arm, Pidge held him back  
“Wait! Since when is Lance an omega?! How can he be in a drop when he isn’t an omega?”  
“Pidge, that questions going to have to wait. Allura, once he’s stable, is there anyway you can use your magic to check on him? We don’t have use of a pod, a drop can be lethal if not detected soon enough”

These were the orders that Keith should have been issuing. This was why his brother had made a better pack leader than he had. Pidge growled, baring her teeth at the senior alpha. The kind of action Lance’s presence would have been there to prevent. The alpha’s head was swimming as he tried to process his life flipping upside down the space of the last 15 doboshes. The man he’d thought the beta of their group was an omega. The friend he’d let down, was now in a drop. The chance to make things right might never come  
“Keith, you can do this. You’ll need to move him back to bed and nest. His body is accepting your touch without dropping further”  
Omegas generally couldn’t stand alphas in their nest without their permission. The idea of Lance nesting alone seemed so lonely when the man had always preferred physical comfort. He didn’t want to disrespect his friend, but if Shiro was telling them Lance needed to be in his nest, then he was going to follow his brother’s words. Out of his depth, the helplessness scared him as much as his confusion. He didn’t know how to get Lance through this when their pack was fractured.

Carrying Lance through to the small sleeping quarters at the back of Red, they found his bed a mess of tangled sheets. Blood was smeared across the fitted sheet, bloodied tissues strewn across the floor. Lance hadn’t nested. There were no signs of the comfort that a nest brought to an omega. Nothing that made the room personal, like Lance’s room on the castle had been filled knickknacks and trinkets from their adventures. It was bare and it was cold. It left Keith’s alpha pained. Lance would have loved to nest, he’d always loved piling up under his blankets and sleeping late. More than the bloodied sheets and tissues, that was what hit him hardest  
“He doesn’t have a nest...”  
There was no comforting mass of pillows, no blankets bundled in. None of their pack scent reached the bleak room. Nothing about the space felt personal and it was wrong. His alpha urged him to fetch his own blankets, to make a nest of for his omega... Keith blinked half dozen times, stalled in doorway between spaces  
“Keith, lay him down. I think we’re wrong about the drop, I think he’s in a red heat”  
“What’s a red heat?”  
He’d paid enough attention in his biology classes to keep up with his required grades, but never had Keith heard the term “red heat” before. He’d never had any kind of experience was an omega before. Despite being born with their dynamics, most people had presented by the age of 15... Omega’s didn’t present this late at all  
“We’ll confirm it first. Then we all need to have a talk. Coran, you and Keith will need to check for self inflicted injuries. Lance’ll need both fever and pain medication, as well as fluids, whatever we can spare. Keith, I need you to keep your temper under control. Coran is not threatening Lance”

Leaning heavily against the sliding cargo doors, Shiro was pale, having over exerted himself as he “Space Dadded” to the best of his ability. Keith wanting you help his brother, yet unable to physically let go of Lance. Huffing, Keith carried Lance to his bed, laying him down as he growled softly, without releasing, when Coran stepped up to start getting Lance cleaned up  
“I’m not doing anything”  
“Your scent is warning everyone to stay back. Take a breath and calm your alpha. An omega naturally slicks when in heat, if he’s in a red heat, there’ll be blood”

Hang on. What now? He couldn’t go stripping Lance down and looking... there... He was an alpha. He shouldn’t be laying hands on his unconscious teammate... especially not when it was Lance... Wait? Why “especially not when it was Lance?”. What in quiznak’s name was wrong with him?  
“I can’t do that! He’s... he’s an omega!”  
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shiro shook his head, sounding bone tired  
“Keith, you can do this. Coran will help you. I need to sit down, his scent’s too strong. It’s affecting my alpha”  
Keith’s alpha prickled at the thought of his brother picking up the sweetness of Lance’s underlying scent. He was the prime alpha of the pack, Lance should be his... No. Nope. No way. Not happening. Lance wasn’t his. His alpha was being stupid due to the fact his team mate was hurt. He did not like Lance. He wasn’t one of those dumb alphas... Nope. No way. The sooner he helped Lance, the sooner he could get out of there. He just needed to keep it together a little longer. If only he could answer the one burning question of the moment: Just what the quiznak had happened?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having finished Caramel this morning at 2am, a normal person might rest between fics. The amount of times I nearly referred to Lance as Keith’s husband is embarrassing. Next chapter we get into the prompts!


	3. Hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith’s confusion only continues...

With blood on his hands, Keith’s shaky legs carried him from Lance’s side. Barely down Red’s ramp, the half-Galra threw up the pitiful contents of his stomach. Coran had sent him to talk to the pack, Keith leaving after scenting one of Lance’s pillow so the omega wouldn’t feel abandoned by his pack. 

“Keith”  
Raising his gaze to Hunk, Hunk had been crying. Hovering with his hand out, Keith’s alpha demanded he ignore the offered hand. This alpha had let Lance drop into this red heat. He’d left Lance in the hands of a team of alphas, how was it that none of them picked up on the signs? Allura and Coran could be forgiven, Altean’s not having secondary dynamics like Earthlings. Gritting his teeth, he reached up, taking Hunk’s hand as he let himself be pulled to his feet  
“We made some soup... We thought it’d be easier for Shiro, and Lance, to eat”  
Lance sounded as if he was an after thought. Keith’s head was pounding from the struggle his alpha was putting him through. They reasoned that without the teams input, they’d get no answers, but seeing his pack had angered his alpha over their neglect. Coran was in tears, Lance’s blood soaked underwear pushing him over. He needed a calm mind, yet with the image of a sickly Lance branded on his brain, being truly calm simply wasn’t possible.

Making space for him between Shiro and Krolia, his mother slipped a blanket over his shoulders as something warm was pushed into his hands by Shiro. The scents of his pack were filled with worry, Keith’s alpha unhelpfully providing that they wouldn’t be this worried if they’d done their jobs to begin with. Gently, Allura broke the silence  
“How... How is Lance?”  
Across from him, the princess sat closely to Romelle. Romelle had her arm around her, Allura having been weakened severely from saving Shiro’s life  
“He’s in a red heat”

Unknowing of the implications of his words, Alliura frowned. Hunk let out a loud sniffle as Pidge dropped the thing she’d been fiddling with   
“What is a red heat? You’ve told me an omega will have what you call a heat. Is a red heat another name for a heat?”  
Wiping his eyes, Hunk shook his head  
“No. No a red heat is...”  
“Lance is dying”  
Pidge cut Hunk off. Keith’s head snapping at the sentence, scolding her angrily  
“We don’t know that!”  
“He’s in a red heat... He’s not even an omega. How was he an omega? You can’t suddenly become an omega. Why did he lie to us? He acted like he was a beta!”  
“Pidge, you need to calm down...”  
“Don’t act like you’re not angry, Shiro! He lied to use for phoebs! He didn’t ask for help when he started to drop and now he’s going to die!”  
Keith growled, baring his teeth at the lower alpha   
“Stop saying he’s going to die”  
“What do you think a red heat is, Keith?!”  
Trying to calm them, Hunk held his hands up in the universal double palmed surrender  
“Guys, maybe we should all take a deep breath”  
“Pidge keeps saying Lance is dying!”  
“Keith won’t listen!”  
The two alphas spoke at the same time, but glaring at each other as they did. Pidge was wrong. Her fear was setting off everyone else’s alpha instincts. He didn’t understand a red heat, yet he was going to what he could to stop Lance from getting worse. Surely it only took some attention from the pack to pull an omega out of a drop?  
“Your pack alpha is telling you to stop. Lance isn’t going to die”

It must be hard for Shiro, constantly being the voice of reason  
“Both of you, stop. Now, Allura asked a valid question. Allura, a red heat is what occurs usually when an omega overdosed on suppressants or isn’t in a safe environment to have their heat. They also happen during an omega drop, which is what I believe has happened here. Lance dropped hard and fast enough that his body went into heat to call for an alpha. Unable to find comfort, his drop worsened and his heat progressed into a red heat”  
Allura let out a small gasp, her hand coming to her mouth. Nodding, Shiro slumped as he continued without prompting   
“The reason it’s called a “red heat” is because as an omega drops, so do their vitals. A red heat is also known as a blood heat, the omegas body essentially wasting away from the inside. Bleeding from... the mouth, eyes, ears and nose are common, but more commonly they bleed from their reproductive organs. A dropping omega may also go feral, but not all feral omegas fall into a drop. A feral omega is an omega who’s letting their omega guide their actions. They’re as a strong as an alpha, often fighting with the use of their nails and teeth above a weapon. A feral omega can regain their senses once they feel safe or are in the present of their alpha. Lance must have known he was dropping. Were his arms injured?”  
Keith swallowed hard as bile crept up. There was some scarring but it didn’t look recent. He didn’t want to dob his friend in without knowing the full story  
“There weren’t any bleeding wounds there”  
Shiro let out a long breath, nodding as he did  
“That’s good. That means he was aware, not feral. He must have bandaged his arms in case he dropped into a feral state. When we look at the evidence, I’m inclined to think that as he presented so late, his body didn’t know how to nest, nor how to handle a heat. Having been a beta, he was most probably scared and confused as to what was happening, constantly yo-yoing on the edge of going into heat as he tried to deny his instincts”

Standing up, Pidge kicked the ground in front of her  
“None of that matters! He lied to us! We all thought he was a beta!”  
Jumping to his own feet, Keith stared her down  
“Why should that matter when he’s like this now? What happened to the pack?! How do you notice someone slipping from a beta to an omega!”  
“Because people don’t slip from being a beta to an omega! They slip from being an omega or an alpha to a beta!”  
As quick as he’d risen, Keith was sitting down again. She was right. Both her’s and Hunk’s alpha sides had slipped closer to beta with having Shiro and an alpha prime in their packs. When he left the dynamics would have shifted again... but for Lance to have shifted to omega, then Lance had to have been a beta-omega all along.

Unused to all this talk of dynamics, Romelle hadn’t made the same conclusion   
“What does this mean for Lance?”  
“It means that Lance was a beta-omega. Something must have happened to him... normally humans present earlier than this. He’s sick because his body doesn’t know how cope with the change to his dynamic. Lance must have been more beta than omega, that’s explain how we never picked up on it. But nothing has happened to him. He hasn’t taken a mate. If he’d taken a mate he might have shifted towards omega”  
Hunk’s words were low, broken with the occasional sniffle. Pidge finally sitting down with a resigned sigh  
“He did sneak away a lot...”  
“None of the races we’ve met had the same dynamics as we do...”  
“That’s true... none of this makes any sense”

Hunk had hit the nail on the head. The only sound from the camp was the crackling of fire. Gathering herself together, Allura sat a little straighter, as graceful and dignified as her tired self could  
“For now, we need to put that aside. This red heat, how can we help Lance?”  
“Lance either needs to wake up, or he needs to sleep with an alpha. He doesn’t have a mate, nor can he give his consent”  
“Then how do we wake him up?”  
Hunk sighed  
“That’s the problem, Allura. He can’t wake himself naturally. Maybe something like your magic could have helped, or access to a pod, but right now the most we can do is make him comfortable... until we can figure out what to do. We need to pool our resources”  
“Well, Pidge brought something with her from Red, perhaps that can help?”

Picking up the object at her feet, Pidge frowned  
“Lance must have grabbed it from the castle before it exploded. It’s Coran’s monsters and mana board”  
“What’s that?”  
“It’s just a game we played as team a couple of times. I’ve been trying to work out why Lance had it, but I’ve got no idea”  
Keith sighed. Some stupid board game wasn’t about to help their situation. That and his gloves were damp from spilling his drink as he’d jumped to Lance’s defence   
“So it’s useless. We’re stuck here with no resources to help him”  
“We can’t let Lance’s condition grow any worse. We have to do everything in our power to help him”  
“I still have some magic. I refuse to believe that there’s nothing we can do for him. Lance is a member of Voltron”  
Pidge snorted at Allura  
“If he was, he wouldn’t have lied to his pack. He clearly doesn’t want to be part of the pack anymore. This never would have happened if he had”

Keith’s comms gave a chime. Hitting the answer button, Coran’s face filled the small holoscreen. Lance wanted to be part of their pack. Keith was sure he did, even if his actions said otherwise  
“Keith! I need you to come back right away!”  
“What happened?”  
“Number three’s condition is worsening!”  
“I’ll be right there”  
Ending the call, Keith passed his untouched cup to his mother, the other Paladins beginning to stand   
“Coran’s called me back. Lance has started to worsen. Shiro mentioned your scents could make it worse... I know it’s hard, but you’ll have to stay here. Sorry, mum, but you’ll have to stay here too. Unless...”  
Keith looked to Shiro for advice, despite Shiro having been Kuron, to him it felt as if his brother had been at the teams side longer than he had. Shiro still felt like a pack leader, and acted like a pack leader should... not like him. If Shiro had been on the castle, Lance never would have dropped  
“Her scent and unexpected presence might make him drop again if he does manage to wake up by himself. I’m sorry, Krolia. For now, the best thing we can do for Lance is not be by his side. We’re lucky Keith didn’t cause him to drop further by touching him as it is. Allura, he’s already accepted you as a pack member, but that doesn’t mean it’ll do you any good to push yourself with your magic. Keith will stay with Lance until further notice”

Jogging back to Red and up inside of him, Keith made his way back to the bedroom area. Coran had one hand resting on Lance’s forehead, with his other hand holding the unconscious man’s   
“He started worsening not long after you left”  
“Has he stirred?”  
“No. I’ve administered pain and fever relief. Do we have a plan to help him?”  
Coran carried such hope in his eyes  
“Not without the castle or a pod. Shiro’s suggested as pack leader I stay with Lance. He knows more about this than I do. You should head down there”  
“Oh, no... No, Lance is... I couldn’t possibly leave him”  
With far more than intended firmness in his voice, Keith’s alpha was being stupid again. He wanted to tear Coran’s hands off Lance, but had no idea why he wanted to do so  
“We all know Lance is like a son to you. That’s why we need you working with the others to find a way to help him. The team needs you to take care of them. Shiro’s pushed himself too far already, and Allura is far too keen to use her magic. Mum doesn’t know the pack like you do. They need you to step in”  
Casting a sad glance towards Lance, Coran rose from sitting on the edge of Lance’s bed  
“I promise we’ll help you my boy. You just rest easy and we’ll have you up before you can say Bobby-Dazzler”  
Swallowing hard, Keith forced himself to walk over to Lance’s bed, taking Lance’s hand from Coran’s light grasp. He was being a coward. He could have easily parroted back what Shiro and Hunk had told the group over what was happening to Lance’s body, yet he selfishly didn’t want to be the one to tell him that Lance might die. He didn’t know if it’d make it any easier for Coran to know that Lance was laying across his game board or not. Sitting himself down on the edge of the bed, he kept his back to the cargo bay doors, feeling every bit as overwhelmed as he had when he’d first found Lance hurt.

*  
Keith hadn’t meant to fall asleep as he kept watch over Lance. Krolia had found a stream with water suitable enough for making cold compress. Though Lance’s fever hadn’t worsened, he hadn’t got any better. Blood would occasionally dribble from his mouth, or his body would shudder violently as if submerged in ice. His friends cheeks remained wet, almost as if Lance was crying in his sleep. The worst part of the experience was the times the rattle in Lance’s chest would stop, Keith’s breathing catching as he momentarily panicked that Lance had passed while he sat there uselessly.

Woken by Allura, Keith shot up where he sat. With everything happening, his mouth moved first  
“Is it Shiro? Is he alright?”  
Smiling kindly, Allura nodded   
“He is resting with your mother and your wolf. How is Lance?”  
His scent hadn’t changed, he still smelt terrible. Squeezing Lance’s hand, it remained limp in his own  
“No better. He hasn’t woken”  
“Oh, Keith... I’m so sorry... I had no idea”  
“Allura, how did this happen? How did no one notice?”  
Allura teared up, shaking her head as she covered her mouth   
“I... I don’t know. I know it’s no excuse, but we were all so busy. Lance pulled away from all of us... He spent a lot of time with the mice, yet he never wanted to spend time with the team”  
“Lance wouldn’t abandon the pack...”  
Lance loved their pack. Each time felt on the outside of pack for not being an alpha, Keith had been there to guide him back. Like when Lance had wanted to step down as a Paladin, Keith was there to tell him to leave the maths to Pidge  
“You didn’t see him, Keith. He just stopped caring. I was awful to him. Too caught up in Lotor to see how much I hurt him. I want to help him”

Everyone wanted to help now that they knew Lance was in trouble. He was the same, he wanted to help because he’d quiznakking missed it, and couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t...  
“We all want to help because we all want to do something to get rid of this guilt. None of us have any idea, I’m assuming you didn’t come up with any bright ideas while I was here?”  
Allura shook her head  
“No. It’s infuriating. They refuse to allow me to use my magic. What good is it having it if I can’t help?”  
“Could you help?”  
Keith didn’t want Allura to push herself, but he was feeling pretty desperate. His alpha had decided that Lance was his, despite Lance very much not being his. They may have shared some kind of feelings for the beta before leaving for the Blades, but that was surely respect not... that  
“I don’t know. You said he needs to wake, perhaps I can see why he won’t? I don’t know...”  
“At this point, I doubt it could hurt. As long as you don’t strain yourself”  
“You sound like Coran, I’ll be fine. But maybe don’t tell the others”

Swapping places with Allura, the princess placed her hands over Lance’s temples, leaning into place her forehead against his. Almost as soon as Allura started to concentrate her power, Lance’s body arched, legs kicking at the blankets across him, hands fisting the sheets beneath him. Bloody spittle exploded from his mouth, across Allura’s face  
“Allura, stop! You’re hurting him!”  
Grabbing Lance by the shoulders, he kept the omega pinned as his body convulsed, Allura reeling back with wide fearful eyes  
“Get Coran!”

More blood spilt from Lance’s mouth as Allura rushed to fetch Coran. Completely helpless, Keith slumped forward over Lance as his body fell lax. Allura’s magic had supposed to have helped, Keith sure that things couldn’t get any worse, then they had. Letting his own forehead rest upon his friends, his alpha was telling him he was an idiot for letting Allura touch Lance. Lance wasn’t going to get better with the help of the princess... but if Allura couldn’t help, then what could?! Why wasn’t Lance responding to the presence of his pack alpha? He might have left this all in the hands of Shiro as he didn’t know how great a red heat, but he’d come so far. He was a better pack leader than when he’d left, ready to be a pack leader to their team  
“God dammit, you idiot. Wake up already. You’re making... m-everyone worry. You’re making the pack worry. How am I supposed to apologise to you, if you won’t let me? How are we supposed to be a pack if our b-omega, isn’t there?”  
Omega’s were supposed to love physical contact, weren’t they? He’d been holding Lance’s hand. He’d fallen asleep with his head on Lance’s chest... How much more physical contact did Lance possibly need? Was he supposed to kiss him? Was that how this worked? He didn’t want to kiss Lance, not when he was unconscious. Maybe... maybe if he kissed his forehead? Like a parent with their child? That was a thing, wasn’t it? No one was watching... Leaning in, his lips met Lance’s forehead...

*  
With the sensation of falling, Keith jerked back to save himself. Beneath his feet lay a dusty wood floor, that most definitely wasn’t Red’s floor. Raising his head Keith let out an cry, covering his eyes as he span from the weird creature in front of him. They... had a tail. They had were naked, towelling off a leg... with a tail?! Laughing at him, a damp towel landed over Keith’s head  
“Dark, what are you doing? You’ve seen me naked before, man. Chill. I know you’re seeing Gyro, but he’s ahead with the rest of the party”  
“I... you... where are your clothes!?”  
Who the what now? What the... A normal person might ask for a name, but... why was he now in some weird room with a buck naked man who may have sounded suspiciously like Lance?! And what was a Gyro? Who was a “gyr”?  
“Man, that lack of sleep must really be getting to you if you don’t remember a fine body like this. Then again, I know I’m not as fine as your boyfriend. If we hadn’t stayed, we never would have collected the enough gold to pay for Gyro’s medicine. Defeating the Coranic Dragon really did a number on him”

What...? The very naked cat? man? Cat-man? Was acting far too nonchalant. What was Gyro? What was a Coranic Dragon, and why the quiznak was he so much like Lance?!  
“Wow, Dark. Are you alright? You look a bit pale... I know you don’t want to sleep with me, I don’t particularly care if you do or don’t, but Gyro’s going to worry if you don’t get some sleep. It’s been three days since you last slept and another three before we reach the rest of the party. He’s going to be fine. Vala would have sent word if his condition had worsened... We’ve got the rest of the gold, so come to bed already”

Keith took a step back, followed by another, then promptly falling on his arse. Ogling his forearms, he found himself decked with black leather bracers... as his wide eyes roamed further down, the black leather bracers weren’t the only black leather he was wearing. His boots, his pants, the strange dead animal thing around his waist like a skirt... no, that was too furry to be leather... his shirt... the somewhat useless looking straps over his shirt... He looked as if he’d either had sex with a giant squid, or someone had pushed him a barrel of black dye.

“Hey, man... Are you okay? You didn’t get hit by a hex did you? Gyro really would throw me out the party if anything happened to you”  
Extending his hand, Keith forced his eyes up from the dick practically right in front of his face, to the cat-mans face. There was only one person he knew with eyes so blue  
“Lance? What... what is this?”  
With a hiss the strange cat-man leapt back, crouched on the bed he’d been using to lean on his dried his leg. His ears were pricked forward as his tail flicked back and forth behind him  
“I’m not Lance. Where did you hear that name?!”  
“I... I...”

With a lunge the cat was across the room. Keith had no idea where he’d hidden a blade but with a blade to his throat at the cat straddled his lap  
“Where is Darkstorm?! What did you do with him?!”  
“I... what...”  
“Who are you?! What do you want?!”  
“I don’t know! I was with my friend and then the next thing I knew I was hear!”  
“Tell me what your goal is!”  
“I... don’t... know... I told you, I was with my friend!”  
“Get out!”

Screaming at him, Keith fell back, his head not hitting the floor as he’d expected. With a gasp his eyes opened finding himself laying near the campfire with Pidge hovering over him. His ears were ringing so loudly he felt as if he’d taken an explosion to the face. Pidge’s lips were moving, but he couldn’t hear anything she was saying. It quiznakking hurt. His whole body hurt. His alpha felt as if it’d been pushed to the very back of his brain. What the quiznak was that?! And how the quiznak had he ended up by the fire?


	4. Hurt and Comfort

When the ringing in Keith’s ears finally stopped, he moved from the bedroll he was occupying to sit with the others. The sky was bright with its purple tinge instead of being blue like on Earth. Having arrived at night, seeing the planet come morning was jarring. Nearly as jarring as his weird arse dream. Seated by Hunk, he’d been forced to eat, hoping he hadn’t been yelling too loudly as he explained he couldn’t hear anything anyone was saying. Skulking, his alpha didn’t like that they were no longer with Lance, nor had it liked not being able to hear the rest of their pack.

Hunk clicking his fingers in front of Keith’s face alerted him that he could hear again. A small amount of relief barely denting his confusion   
“I can hear...”  
Throwing his arms around him, Hunk’s touch sent a shudder through him. His alpha causing him to growl at the younger alpha. Apologising as if he was in the wrong, Hunk released him, but now that he could hear again, he was the focus of the groups attention. For her part Pidge was now playing with Coran’s game board, her laptop in her lap as she did so  
“What happened?”  
“We were hoping you could tell us, bud. Allura went to fetch Coran, but Coran found you unconscious across Lance... You’ve been out of it for the last two vargas”  
Hunk had to be lying. There was no way he’d been out of it for that long...  
“That makes no sense...”  
“Pidge has a theory, but before that, is there anything you remember?  
Shiro’s voice was gentle, yet rubbed Keith’s alpha the wrong way  
“What do you mean she has a theory?! Do you guys have some way to help Lance?!”  
“Possibly”  
“Then what are we doing sitting here?!”  
Going to stand, he was stopped by Hunk  
“You need to rest. You gave us all a scare”

After finding Lance as he had, finding him unconscious must have scared the pack. He understood that, but if they could help Lance, then why weren’t they doing that instead? Shiro cleared his throat, Keith knowing he’d forced the action to stop him from protesting they needed to do something for Lance when there was the suspicion something could be wrong with him too  
“Keith, is there anything you remember? Anything at all that would explain why you were unconscious?”  
Keith shook his head. He’d been tired... He’d fallen asleep? If he’d been asleep, then they should have been able to wake him? And why were his ears ringing  
“No. I... no... I think I had a weird dream. I didn’t mean to scare you guys”  
“Did anything happen before the dream? Allura told us what she did, how she tried to help Lance. We just don’t know what that has to do with you”  
He wasn’t about to admit he’d kissed Lance. Not to his pack...  
“No. I was sitting with Lance... then I had this really weird dream. When I woke up my ears were ringing and I was down here”

From her laptop, Pidge let out an annoyed growl   
“Just ask him what his dream was about already”  
“Pidge”  
Shiro’s voice held a warning that Pidge ignored   
“Fine. Keith, what happened in your dream?”  
“What do you mean what happened? It was just a dream”  
“You were unconscious. Answer the question already”  
“I don’t know. It was really weird... there was this... guy, but he was a cat, but he was a man... and he kept talking about something called a Gyro and some kind of dragon? I was weird these really weird clothes and he called me “Dark”. I don’t see what this has to do with helping Lance”  
Embarrassed by his dream and haunted by the image of the cat-man’s junk, Keith’s alpha pride took a hit as he explained it. No way was he going to say the weird cat man who looked a hell of a lot like Lance, was buck naked and trying to get him into bed. The air in the camp shifted, Keith now feeling stupider by the tick   
“See. It has nothing to do with helping Lance”

“Actually, we think it does”  
Pidge was delusional if she thought his weird dream held some sort of sway to their situation. Following up, she added  
“While you were looking after Lance, we had a meeting in Green. None of us had any idea what was happening, but Coran’s game board came to life for a second”  
“Game boards don’t come to life, Pidge”  
Pidge shot him a glare  
“That’s not what I meant and you know it. It turned on. Only for a moment, then a few ticks later Allura came running to tell us what had happened. What we think happened is that somehow Lance’s quintessence is bonded with the board”  
That was such a bad joke that it didn’t even warrant a laugh  
“Pidge, that’s not even funny. Lance is go there in Red, fighting for his life while you’re down here making jokes”  
“I’m not joking. You weren’t there when we all played monsters and mana. I didn’t tell you anything about it, the others haven’t told you anything about it. You didn’t even know the game existed. I think when Allura tried to access Lance’s mind, she couldn’t because she’s not an alpha. Somehow you did”  
“That’s impossible”  
“Is it? You guys didn’t tell him anything about our campaign, did you?”  
Hunk and Allura both gave a shake of their heads, before looking to Shiro   
“I don’t know anything about the game”  
Pidge sighed  
“Right. But when we played, it was all of us. Coran, Allura, me, Hunk, Lance and... Kuron, who we thought was Shiro. Gyro was Shiro’s name in the game. We fought against Coran who turned out to be the bad guy. He turned into the Coranic Dragon. Lance played a rogue called Pike, who was part cat like the cat-man you just told us about. Allura played an archer called Vala. Hunk was Block, and I was Meklavar”  
“So what? You think Lance is trapped in some stupid game?”  
“None of us know how an omega drop works. The omegas that have survived are said to have created a fantasy world where they’re comfortable. Maybe Lance is trapped playing monsters and mana because he was thinking of the game when he dropped”  
“You just said you thought he was trapped in the game”  
“Because we only have a theory. What else happened?”

Keith’s cheeks burned warm. If the cat-man was Lance, then Lance was trying to get him into bed... but, how did that work with Gyro? He wasn’t in a relationship with his brother... that was... Shiro was hot and all, but he and his fiancé had basically been foster parents to Keith before everything went wrong  
“Um... He said that the party had gone ahead. We’d stayed behind to collect a bounty because Gyro was hurt fighting the Coranic dragon”  
Keith felt stupid admitting his dream out loud, Pidge probing further  
“And then what? What else happened? Anything could help”  
“He um... He was acting weird and when he looked at me, I thought he looked like Lance. When I said Lance’s name he lost it. He pulled a blade out and started demanding to know who I was. I tried to tell him, then he screamed at me and I woke up here with my ears ringing and no idea what was going on. My alpha felt weird... I don’t know. There’s no way any of this is possible”  
“The board is Altean, and it is immersive. If Lance is in there, then we need to see if Allura can get us back in to his head”  
“You can’t be serious”  
“No, you can’t be serious! We have no idea what’s happening! But what we do know is that you know about a game you shouldn’t!”  
“You guys must have told me!”  
“When did we have time?! Something happened up there when you touched Lance. The board lit up. They’re the facts Keith!”  
“None of this helps us help Lance...”  
Pidge threw her hands in the air  
“Aren’t you listening?”  
“You’re not sure if he’s in a board game or he thinks he is!”  
“Either way, if she can get us in there, we can get him out!”  
“Do you want to get him out? Or are you only doing this because you feel guilty?”  
Pidge gawked at him  
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”  
“It means none of you noticed he’d become an omega, and none of you noticed he was dropping!”  
“We had other things to do!”  
“At the cost of the pack?! Forget it. You’ve been acting like he’s an annoying burden the whole time we’ve been flying!”  
“That’s rich coming for our pack leader who left!”  
“I left to find my mother! I thought you all understood that!”  
“You can’t come back here and blame it all on us! You’re the one who’s trying to shift his guilt because now he’s dropped, you’re suddenly interested!”  
“I’m not interested in Lance! I’m... he’s my friend”  
“A friend you’d rather not spend eternity with. Grow up Keith. The only reason you feel like you do is because you can’t take the moral high ground and apologise if he’s dead”

“That enough!”

Shooting Allura a scathing glare, Keith climbed to his feet  
“I’m going back to his side. There’s no way he’s connected to that game. He’s sick and he could be dying from this red heat. I’m not going to let you treat him any worse than you have as a pack in what time he has left”  
Starting to stalk away from the camp, Keith felt all of 8 inches tall. He shouldn’t be snapping at his pack. His pack were scared, he was scaring them... but Pidge saying that Lance was somehow in this game thing just sounded so preposterous. Yelling his name after him, Keith clenched his fists  
“Keith!”  
“Let him go, Hunk. He knows. He needs time now”

*  
Coran seemed surprised to see him. Lance’s face had been cleaned, the omega a sickly ashen colour instead of his normal vibrant caramel skin. Making space for him beside Lance, all Keith could do was sit  
“He’s hanging in there. His vitals seem better when you’re by his side”  
“That’s because I’m his pack leader”  
Coran fidgeted with his moustache, Keith was a bit sick of people not just spitting out what they meant  
“Why? Do you think it’s something else?”  
“Well... I shouldn’t...”  
Coran clearly wanted to  
“Coran, Lance is sick. If it’s something that could help me help him, then you need to tell me”  
“Ah. Well. When you put it like that... He took your leaving the hardest of the team”  
“From what I understand the pack had a hard time”  
“That’s not what I’m saying. Lance missed you quiet a lot”  
“I doubt he missed me that much”  
“On the contrary. He spent many a quintant checking his comms to see if he’d heard any reply from you. He was such a kind boy, helping me with cleaning the castle when everyone else was busy. He spoke of missing you quite often. You may have started as rivals, but I believe he considered you a close friend before your departure”  
They were a pack... Lance helped him in his transition to pack leader. Now he was stuck here like this. If he’d missed him so much, why hadn’t he reached out? Keith had had none of these messages Coran seemed to be under the impression of existing   
“That’s not... the others made it sound like he was fine. They mentioned he’d often slip off during missions... Plus, he was always flirting with Allura, and Romelle”  
“Ah... I’ve said too much”

Keith groaned. He was too confused to cope with this level of confusion. Coran was hinting that Lance held some kind of feelings towards him, which he severely doubted was the case. He needed to get off the topic of feelings  
“Coran, Pidge said she thinks Lance is stuck in this monsters and mana game of yours. Is that... even a thing?”  
“The board is very old, who knows what kind of bugs it’s developed after 10,000 years. His quintessence has certainly changed, and if there’s anything I’ve learned since meeting you Earthlings, it’s that anything is possible”  
“But how?! And why now?”  
“We theorise that this drop of his caused a spike in his quintessence, linking him to the game. With his deteriorating mental state, it also possible the game created a fanciful way to escape the pressures”  
“So what you’re saying is that you don’t know either”  
“No, my boy. Pidge spoke of running a few tests. Did she not mention them to you”  
“I got mad at her before she could”  
“Ah, yes. That could be a bit of a problem. While it is admirable you wish to take care of Lance, you can’t neglect your duties or yourself”  
“If you’re telling me to rest, I will when Lance is finally awake”  
“Then we shall do whatever it takes to get young Lance here back on his feet. I’ll leave you two alone, but don’t forget your team”  
“I won’t... Thanks, Coran”

*  
Barely a varga passed before there was a knock on the cargo bay door. Forcing himself from Lance, Keith grit his teeth as he found Pidge the culprit who’d disturbed him  
“Before you get angry, we decided it’s best to show you the game board. We’ve set it up, if you’d like to see”  
Again with the game theory. He wasn’t impressed, nor did he want to join, yet he’d been dismissive of his pack as it was. He owed it to them to at least hear out the insane theory  
“Fine. Let me change the compress and I’ll be there”

Set up on the floor in the cargo bay, Allura, Shiro, Coran, Hunk, and Pidge sat around the game board. The board wasn’t exactly a board but a round piece of metal with some kind of inlay for the device seated upon it. Keith hadn’t noticed how the pieces weren’t one unit, it would better to describe it as a game and a board, instead of a “game board”. With the space between Shiro and Coran free, Keith took the spot, staring at the blank metal as he waited for something to happen  
“Right then. The great Coranic makes his return. Pidge, fire her up”  
“Wait. Keith and I have no idea of the rules”  
“Never you mind! Coranic won’t lead you wrong, Gyro”  
There was that name again. Hunk laughed nervously   
“Coran, you literally turned from the innkeeper into the evil Coranic dragon after betraying us. See if we aren’t as weary this time around”  
“How wise of you, as expected from Block. We’ll need to design Keith a character”  
Pidge leaned in, flicking the switch on the device   
“Why don’t we call him Dark? Lance got that right... huh... Is that Pike?”  
In the semi-circular graphic that spawned stood a single character   
“It looks like Pike. Why don’t you try adding your characters”  
Pidge went to tap the interface, a clear crackle rang out as electricity danced over the dome  
“Motherfucker”  
“Pidge! Language!”  
Pidge scowled at Shiro, keeping eye contact as she corrected herself  
“Motherducker”  
“Better”  
Shaking her hand didn’t relieve her pain, sticking the tip of her pointer finger in her mouth, Pidge turned to Coran   
“It’s never done that before”  
That wasn’t reassuring  
“Let me try”  
Reaching for the device Hunk was zapped for his efforts, Hunk looking to Allura who was in turn the third person zapped  
“Maybe it was damaged? Coran, what do we do?”  
“Let me try... As your lore master, it should work for me”  
It didn’t. Coran zapped, Shiro poking the sphere and being zapped for his curiosity. The only one smart enough not to poke the board, all eyes turned to him  
“Why do I have to? We can already see it doesn’t work”  
Shiro sighed  
“Poke the board like the rest of us”  
“Why? Why should I be electrocuted like the rest of you”  
“One, it’s for science. Two, you’re the pack leader. Poke it already, you know you want to”  
Keith was sure he really didn’t want to... Cringing as his finger tips approached the board, they passed through the field that’s stopped his friends from doing the same. This was... pulling his hand back, Keith stared at his fingers. Leaning over the board, Pidge pushed her face into his  
“How did you do that?!”  
“I don’t know... I feel... tired... really tired...”  
With his words slurring, Keith fell backwards.

*  
Not this again... Feeling as if he was falling, Keith caught himself to find himself in yet another strange place. Green fields rolled before them, gravel stones crunching beneath their feet as he stood next to the strange cat-man that was meant to be Lance. Pike? That was his name... What kind of a name was Pike? Squinting at the sunlight, the blue sky was the same shade of blue as it’d been on Earth. The forests in the distance filled with Earthen scents and sounds. With a long craw something passed across the sky, a flickering caught out the corner of his eye. Pike’s eyes had narrowed, his ears twitching as he watched the swooping bird on the horizon  
“It’s fine. It’s a messenger bird, no harm. We’ll spend the night in the woods and meet the others at the village around noon tomorrow”  
This was Lance. But he wasn’t. But he was? As if Keith could possibly feel anymore confusion at this stage. He was... he was in a board game, with “not Lance”, being “not himself”, walking along a dirt road for no good reason? Pidge was going to love this  
“Right”

Walking along the path, two things became very clear to Keith. He couldn’t feel his alpha, no matter how he tried he could connect, and for some reason he seemed to be carrying two swords almost the size of Pidge for no particular reason. The third revelation came near half a varga after what ever this had happened. Other than informing him of the messenger bird, Pike hadn’t said anything else... at all. His ears were slightly dropped forward, though wearing a neutral expression, the corner of his lips were tight. As if he expected danger at any moment. The others had asked about his “dream”, so maybe he was... supposed to do something? If he was in Lance’s head, shouldn’t Lance be talking nonstop? Lance would usually be talking nonstop. Lance always talked nonstop. Where Keith didn’t have the right words, Lance did  
“Are you alright?”  
Instantly Pike pushed a fake smile to his lips  
“I’m fine, Dark. Just, you know, anxious to get back to the others”  
“Oh. Right...”  
Smooth. Real smooth. Way to go there, Keith...  
“I know you hate being away from Gyro, we’ll see him soon enough”  
“Wait... what... Hey, Pike. Are you okay?”  
Lance perked up at him calling him “Pike”. The name feeling unnatural on Keith’s tongue  
“What do you mean? We’ve managed to acquire the Yalexian Pearl. Once we cross through the mountains, we’ll be home free to deliver it to the castle”  
What the quiznak was a “Yalexian Pearl”? Filing it away, Keith nodded  
“Yeah, but you’ve been pretty quiet during the walk”  
“Don’t tell me Darkstorm Thunderspear cares about little ol’ me?”  
What kind of a name was that? For a starter it made no sense, and for a finisher, it didn’t make sense either. Keith huffed  
“It’s just strange when you’re quiet”  
“That’s a first. Normally the party can’t wait to tell me to shut up. You know, Dark. You don’t have to force yourself to talk to me”

In Lance’s defence, Keith could easily count a dozen times since his return that Pidge had told Lance to shut up. Heck, he could count half a dozen times when Hunk had agreed with her. But they never actually meant it hurt fully. Lance knew he was handful that talked way too much... so why did it hurt to hear that this “Pike” felt the same way?  
“I’m not forcing myself. It’s... uh, it’s a long walk. If I was forcing you to talk, I’d ask you about all those times you disappear at the... uh, inns?”  
Keith hoped he was using the right phases. Again, he wished they’d told him something about the stupid game. Letting out a long breath, Pike pulled his cloak around him  
“I didn’t think anyone noticed”  
“The party did...”  
“The party did? That makes sense. I bet Meklavar told you all about how I was making the journey so much more difficult. Sounds about right”  
Lance sounded so bitter that all Keith needed was the lemon and limes   
“It’s not like that. They’re wo-...”  
“Dark, I’m going to stop you there. I know what Meklavar thinks of me already. It just took me by surprise that you knew too. Block probably couldn’t wait to tell you and Gyro either”  
Okay. So apparently he’d stepped into a minefield without knowing. It was bad enough that he was wherever here was, now he was ruining things in Lance’s head further  
“They only mentioned it to me... They didn’t say what you were doing”  
“I’ve heard them enough to know that’s not true. The second they think I’m gone, they think I’m off having sex. You don’t need to sugar coat it”  
Keith choked on his own saliva  
“Right. Great. You think the same thing too. See, this is why I didn’t bother trying to talk to you”

Jogging ahead of him, Pike was light on his feet. Starting to jog to catch up, Keith had no idea how he was supposed to be stealthy in everything he was wearing  
“Pike, wait. That’s not it at all”  
“Sounds like it is. It’s alright, Dark. You’re not taking any disease back to Gyro. I don’t even sleep with them”  
“I never said you did”  
“Suuuuure. The rest of the party says I do”  
“Well... Well maybe I can change their minds?”  
Lan-Pike scoffed. Keith had no idea what the relation between them was supposed to be. From what he could gather, he was supposed to be in a relationship with Gyro, but that didn’t explain why he was sleeping with Pike. Pike who was supposed to be sleeping around, only he didn’t   
“It’s fine. They’ve made it pretty clear how they feel”  
Grabbing Pike by the shoulder, he’d twisted out of Keith’s hold before Keith’s fingers could even grip the fabric of his cloak  
“Pike, wait. I... I know I must have been a dick, but I’m trying to do better”  
Eyeing him, Pike crossed his arms  
“Why should I believe you? You fuck the cat. Heavens forbid you listen to the cat”  
“Look. I upset you and I’m sorry. We’ve got a long walk ahead of us, and it’s repetitive walking in silence. Your a member of our party... and I want to... understand”  
“What’s to understand. We get the Pearl to the castle then I’m gone. The others have already made up their minds that I’m in their way. The only reason I’m still in the party is because I was the one that caught the Pearl”  
“You’ve... got... skills”  
If Keith could punch himself in the face, he would have. He was trying his best, but damn if Pike wasn’t having it. Watching the man’s ears flick again, he kept his gaze on him until Pike finally sighed  
“Not that it matters, but I don’t sleep around. I get homesick sometimes, so I talk to the people we meet because I can’t go home yet. There. Now you know where the team whore disappears off to. I know it’s anticlimactic, but it’s the truth”

Starting to stalk off, Keith took three long strides to fall back into step with him  
“Why don’t you tell them that?”  
“Don’t you think I already have?”  
“I’ll talk to them. I’ll talk to them when we reach them”  
“Don’t bother. I’m really starting to think you hit your head after all. You’ve been acting so weird. Normally you just glare at everything or stab it if it moves”  
“Maybe...”  
La-... dammit he just couldn’t look at Pike and see anyone but Lance   
“Whatever. Look, you don’t have to care. I know my place in the party. Let’s just get to the forest so we can camp for the night”

Far too fast Keith found himself walking beside Pike in the depth of the forest. Literally he couldn’t remember the walk from their brief conversation to being in the middle of the forest. The silence was unnervingly cold, their breaths falling in puffs of condensation. The temperature had dropped drastically, unlike Pike, Keith was cloak free. Places that shouldn’t have been cold, were bathed in goosebumps. Whoever thought to dress him in a leather tunic had failed to take in account the way his chest rubbed against the inner leather. Having a shirt underneath wool have also protected him from bit of the cold steel parts of his armour. Whoever had designed his current wardrobe had a lot to answer for  
“We should be in far enough now. There’s bandits... Sorry, right. You already know there’s bandits. Stupid, Pike. Right. Go find a spot to camp and I’ll gather the firewood”  
Pike’s face was the very epitome of gloom. His ears now flat, body curled in on himself  
“Pike, is something wrong?”  
“Nope. No. It’s fine. Let’s hurry up and settle down for the night. I’ll see if I can find some game out there while I’m gathering wood. You don’t need to worry, just find somewhere to camp”  
That didn’t seem a fair division of labour  
“Why I don’t hunt the game, while you find the fire wood?”  
“Because after the last time you got lost hunting, Gyro made us swear we wouldn’t let you hunt on your own again. I’m not getting in trouble with Gyro when we’re this close to make it safely. Sit somewhere safely. I’ll be back”

Keith was perfectly capable of finding wood as well as scavenging up game for dinner. Pouting, he led himself off the road through the woods, finding himself nervous as he pushed his way through the dense undergrowth. Reaching up to pull the twins swords from his back, he found himself ridiculously over powered. He should be wielding each individual sword in a two handed grip. They should weigh a metaphorical ton when compared to his luxcite blade, yet both were perfectly balanced, clearly Dark was a man who took pride in his blades. If Pike was going to be foraging then he should have time to get a few practice swings in before he came back... An awful dread bloomed in his chest, if Pike was only “tolerating” him, then the only obligation he had to return was his fear of Gyro, not because he saw Keith as a companion. Keith had no idea how this world operated, not when it came to ability, species and apparently magic. He didn’t know what he was doing. He wasn’t fighting Galra, he wasn’t on some covert mission. He as trapped in a game that’d swallowed Lance into it. Shaking his head he wasn’t going to let this feeling keep growing. Pike said he liked stabbing things, without something worth stabbing, Keith settled for cutting his way through the undergrowth until he came find that, rather conveniently, behind the second layer there was a fallen tree above a dip, providing coverage in the case of wind. The place seemed like it was supposed to be found, crying out to be camped in... just like a game would be. Stuff it. It was a game and no game was getting the better of him.

Cleaning up then leaf litter, Keith threw himself down a huff when he was done. He no longer felt the need to swing his swords around. He wanted Pike to come back... The forest was making him miserable, Pike was gone, after leaving him with so much to think about. He and Pike weren’t? friends, nor did the party appreciate his skills. Despite not being friends, Pike let him use his body, because he apparently needed sex to sleep? Was that the take away from that? If the members of their party were based on the packs campaign while he wasn’t there, then how did Keith’s character come to be, and what was he supposed to be? Would he be flattering himself to think he wielded two swords, and held so much strength, as Lance saw him as strong and capable leader? Plus, if this Darkstorm person was a creation of Lance’s why in quiznaks name was he sleeping with his adoptive brother? Everyone at the Garrison had known of Adam and Shiro, the Garrisons power couple. Why weren’t the others there to... do that with? Immediately Keith jerked his head back with a shake, his face wrinkled with disgust. Pidge and Hunk... that just wasn’t happening. Nor was he... nope, not with Allura. Was that why it was Pike that he... slept with? Was that Lance trying to ease the embarrassment of his character? Where the quiznak was Pike to answer these questions?! Why him? Why had Pike stayed back with his character and why did he think the party didn’t want him? Was it because he was a cat? Because if Keith was honest, the cat thing was kind of a weird choice. Wouldn’t cats be the bad guys? Keith was pretty sure he’d heard Lance call the Galra untrained house cats... or was he over thinking things? Groaning, he wanted to yell his frustrations to the world, only he dared not. The forest was creepy enough, who knew what lay out there in the shadows?

Pike finally came wandering into camp nearly a varga after leaving him. Humming to himself, the melody was depressing, somber, and not the melody of man who had two weird birds slung over his left shoulder, with a bundle of wood under his right his right arm  
“All I could catch were a couple of Cookankx. I set some traps up around the permitter, anything coming is in for a surprise. A very loud, very fun surprise. I’ll start plucking them while you start the fire”  
“You’re... not going to eat them raw?”  
Pike rolled his eyes, his reply bitter  
“Go ahead. Make the cat jokes. It’s not like I haven’t heard them all already”  
“That’s... give them here, I’ll pluck them”  
“It’s fine, we both know you’re all thumbs if you don’t have your hands around your swords. I grew up on a farm, remember. Animal affinity and all that”  
“I guess I’ll start the fire then”

Trying to strike the fire without anything other a couple of sticks, Pike took pity on him as he threw over his flint and steel, the dry leaves Keith had raked up catching after a fair bit of effort. Glancing up in pride, Pike caught his eye, a soft smile on his lips that made Keith’s heart give a weird beat. The smile was so familiar. The kind of smile Lance would follow up by saying “We make a good team, Mullet”. If he could make Pike happy then maybe he could make it up to Lance? Maybe the things he’d said would be forgiven? Dropping his head, Pike resumed picking feathers from the chicken like bird  
“Pass me one”  
“What?”  
“Pass me one of those birds. It’ll go faster if we work together, won’t it?”  
Pike bit his lip, before looking over both shoulders and then passing the second bird to him  
“Just don’t tell anyone... they think jobs like this are weird”  
“What’s so weird about it?”  
“It’s not normal”  
“You said you were from a farm, and it’s not exactly like we can eat it with the feathers on”  
“Yeah... try not to damage them too much. We can sell them in town. They’re not great quality, but they’ll do for novice fletchers. Maybe 10 for 3 copper?”  
“That doesn’t seem like very much”  
Pike’s ears dropped  
“Meklavar says the same thing. I know it’s not much, but it’s 3 more copper than we had before. I know I’m useless, but I mean, we’re not exactly rich. Every copper helps”  
“You’re right. I didn’t think of it like that”  
“Being a barbarian, you wouldn’t have to. It’s all about “me stab”, me look good with “swords”. You already had everything you needed when you joined the party”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
Pike shook his head  
“I’m being stupid again. I mean, you already had Gyro. And you were already on a quest before you ran into us. I...”

Dropping the bird, Pike leapt to his feet. Snatching out his blade, the cat-man bared his pointed teeth. Barely a tick later three consecutive explosions rang out  
“Bandits!”  
An arrow whizzed past Keith’s ear, Pike bravely charging towards battle. Bandits? Really? They couldn’t simply sit there and pluck some weird chickens, as friends did?  
“Avoid the arrows! I can smell the poison!”  
“Pike!”  
Poison didn’t sound good. Poison sounded less good as Pike ran towards the source like an idiot. Pausing long enough to gather his two blades, Keith ran towards where he’d seen Pike heading, the cat having vanished from his sight  
“Pike!”  
Yelling into void drew attackers his way. Feeling the curve of the sword before seeing the attacker, Keith arched his right sword to block the blow, embedding his left sword deeply in his attacker as he did. The long blade entered half way up the dishevelled mans side, emerging just under his collar bone on the opposite side of his body. It wasn’t what he was aiming for, yet... if it worked, then who was he to complain? His next attacker was on him before he could spin around to confront them, kicking out, he knocked the man off balance, sweeping his feet from beneath him before running him through with his sword   
“Pike!”  
“Dark! Run!”

The sound echoed off the large trees, Keith unable to tell where Lance had yelled from  
“Pike, I’m coming for you!”  
There was a screech, Keith picking a random direction and running... right towards the bandits archer. Weaving his step, there was barely a few ticks between each arrow launched his way. Amazing himself as he deflected an arrow with his blade, Keith charged the man recklessly, yelling like a lunatic as he did  
“Pike, I’m coming!”  
As the archer turned to flee, Keith tackled him down, with his new found strength he’d forgotten about the sword in his left hand, the blade slicing through the bandits stomach, confusing him as to why blood was suddenly rushing across his hand and arm. Letting go of the man in disgust, the blade slid smoothly from the wound, curving it up the dying man’s side as two and two clicked for him. Great. He wasn’t going to get any information from the man he’d killed by accident, and the pause in his momentum had given the man chasing him enough time to finally catch up. Blocking the blow aimed for his head, Keith ducked under the blade, rolling then thrusting forward, dropping yet another bandit. With the adrenaline finally kicking in, he shook off feeling bad for what amounted to no more than video game characters... very creepy, way too alive, game characters  
“Pike! Where are you?!”  
As a shrill shriek rang out across the blackness, Keith spinning around, doubling back towards where he’d come from, the tangent slightly right of camp   
“I’m coming! Hold on, Pike!”

Running through the forest, Keith literally stumbled across La-Pike. Strung from a tree in a thick net, the poor cat was crying as he tried to free himself  
“Pike!”  
In the most cliche of ways, the remaining six bandits stepped out from behind the trees, two archers had their bows trained on him. With yellowed skin and bad teeth, the “leader” of the group spat in his direction   
“Stay back! We only want the cat!”  
“That cat happens to be my friend!”  
“Walk away, before we kill you where you stand!”  
Rolling his wrists, Keith stabbed both swords into the dirt in front of him  
“I’m not armed. Let’s talk about this like normal people”  
“This cat stole something important to us. You walk away, and you keep your life”  
“I can’t do that!”  
“That’s a shame for you”

Clipped as the first arrow was fired, Keith snatched his swords up, feeling a second arrow graze him as he rushed the closest bandit. Struggling harder in the net, Pike couldn’t help him. He was begging to be freed and pleading that he’d be good if he did. Slamming into the bandit as he ran the man through, Keith rolled then as they fell shielding himself from the arrows being let loose in his direction. He knew he couldn’t stay under the weight of the dead man, he needed to get up and save Pike. Whatever had been on the arrows was starting to burn where he’d been clipped just shy of his knee. Grunting, he pushed the dead man off him, jumping up as he stabbed his second sword back into the group. With one he could focus better. These weapons were foreign to him and his hold, his footwork clumsy as he headed towards the next closest bandit. He was going to save Pike. As he focused on that one thought, his strength seemed to swell. His sword felt an extension of his arm as he moved, not at all the same feeling he’d had a few ticks before. He was going to save Pike. His friend would be fine. He had to save him. 

For bandits they put a rather weak fight. One tick Keith was feeling at one with his sword, the next he’d beaten the bandits... He hadn’t meant to take them down so fast. They were just so... so, weak. Training with any member of their pack was harder than kicking and slashing his way through the small group. Cutting Pike down, the poor cat landed in a heap, sluggishly moving under the thick cream ropes. Clutching his leg, Keith staggered over to sink down by Pike  
“Pike?”  
“Let me out... please let me out... I’ll be good, just let me out... someone... save me”  
Placing his sword aside, Keith grasped the rope net in his hands, tugging as he tried to find the edges, only to find the more the tried to untangle Pike, the worse it got. The fine fibres of the fabric catching like small barbs, proving annoying to detach himself from  
“Pike, it’s ok. I’m going to cut you out. Just hold on a little longer”  
Gathering his sword back up, Keith pinched one length of fabric as he slipped the sword under the small opening it made. Sliding the blade up, the fabric of the net cut away with ease, as if it held no tension now the fibres were severed. Huddled in the mess of rope left behind, Pike had his hands over his ears, crying his heart out  
“Pike, you’re ok now. You’re ok, I’ve got you”

Burning was starting to spread up his leg, kneeling hurting as he reached out of pull Pike into his lap. Cradling Pike against him, he brushed the cat-man’s hair back, Pike curling into him to hide his face against Keith’s armour  
“I’ve got you, Pike. I’ve got you. Shhh... I’ve got you”  
“I’m sorry! I tried... I got some of them...”  
Feeling the burning rising, Keith shifted Pike so he could straighten his leg out. Pike had warned him over the poison... and like a quiznakking idiot, he’d gone and let himself get hit. His lips were starting to feel tingly... tingly wasn’t a good sign...  
“Some is better than none. See, it was just a scare. We made a oret... prett... pretty good team”

Falling backwards, Keith’s world turned black, the expected hit to the back of his head not coming, just as it hadn’t before.


	5. Fluff

This waking up to find someone hovering in his face was getting old. Keith’s head swimming for a moment as his alpha realigned it’s self. One moment he was holding Pike, now he waking in Red’s cargo bay again, this time Coran was the one far too close to his face   
“Good news, he seems to be back with us!”  
Growling, Keith moved his hands to scrub at his face. Insanity seemed the only possible reason for what the quiznak had happened, not once, but twice now  
“Keith?”  
Pidge was somewhere out of his view, couldn’t they give him a moment of peace?  
“I’m up already”  
“Man, are you okay? You slumped over backwards...”  
Hunk was also out of his view, but with his hands over his eyes he wasn’t seeing much of anything. Quiznak! Pike had been in his arms, scared out of his mind. Shooting up, Keith nearly smacked his head against Coran’s   
“I have to go back in!”

Finding his pack staring at him, Pidge and Hunk we’re both slackjaw. Shiro’s expression was one of concern   
“Keith, I think you need to take a breath”  
“Pike was hurt. I need to go back”  
He knew his brother was humouring him as Shiro asked  
“What do you mean Pike was hurt?”  
“We were attacked by bandits. We were in this really dark forest...”  
Coran clicked his fingers   
“Ah! The forest of Despair! Known for its affects on players morale and it’s vaguely terrible beasties within”  
“The what? That’s the last place Lance needs to be right now. I have to go back”  
“Keith... You just woke up, we have no idea the effects of the board on you, or on your body”  
Pushing his alpha down, he curbed his words to something more civil than initially planned  
“You don’t understand. He was talking to me. He was as real as you are and he was talking to me...”  
“He’s in a game...”  
“I know he is! But... but I think Pidge was right. I think Lance... I think Lance knows he’s Lance in there... He knew about things...”

“I think we should let Coran examine you, as you tell us about what you saw in there”  
Bringing calm, Keith was grateful to Allura. Breathing deeply through his nose he nearly choked on his pack’s fear. As confused as he was, the pack was also confused and scared to lose another member to the game in front of them  
“Fine”

Fetching his supplies from Lance’s side, Coran was all smiles as he returned  
“Lance’s fever has lessened. It’s still quite serious, but not as bad as it was. Whatever it was you did in there seems to have helped”  
“All I did was listen to him...”  
And save him from the bandits. He didn’t doubt that Lance would have taken down whoever he could have been ending up in the net. Moving away from the game board, they kept the circle they’d been sitting in. The tick they were settled Pidge was asking questions   
“What was it like in there? Did you feel like yourself? Did you see us? What were we like?”  
As Coran started poking at him, Keith laid his palms on his armour, he was the only one who hadn’t changed into something less bulky  
“No. I was with Lance. We were going through the forest to meet up with you guys. Apparently you went ahead because Shiro was hurt”  
Pidge visibly deflated. Coran taking the moment he stopped talking to shove a thermometer in his mouth  
“What did Lance say? Did he talk about us, or about us in the game?”  
Opening his mouth, the thermometer slipped, Coran catching it and giving it a shake before looking at the numbers  
“Normal temperature. Very good. You need something to eat and something to drink”  
“What I need is to go back. Lance... Pike... he wasn’t alright”  
“This is Lance we’re talking about, I’m sure he’s fine”  
Keith scowled at Hunk who nervously pushed his pointer fingers together   
“He’s not fine. None of this is fine. He’s stuck in game where he thinks the pack hates him, and only tolerates him because he caught that pearl thing”  
“We don’t hate him?”  
Pidge sounded confused instead of upset, Keith’s alpha prickled  
“Really. Then you haven’t been talking about him behind his back, insinuating that he sleeps around?”

Hunk sighed  
“A lot happened after you left. Lance isn’t the same as he was before”  
“Wow? Really? Him dropping is pretty much a dead give away”  
“We didn’t know he was an omega...”  
“So you’re saying you wouldn’t have been talking about the same way? We talked about it, and when he says he never slept with anyone, I believe him”  
Pidge rolled her eyes  
“You weren’t there. He’d sneak off, then sneak back just before we left”  
“Because he was homesick! He didn’t feel part of the pack so he’d talk to people so he felt less alone”  
“Lance was always right there. He kept getting in the way while we were trying to work”  
“Was he getting in the way, or was he trying to help?”  
Lance always wanted to help. Even if it didn’t always work out right, he was still the first to make an offer. Pidge and Hunk might have been light years about them with the technical stuff, but Lance was smart in his own way   
“He was... kind of in the way”  
“I expect this from Pidge, not from you. You were his best friend...”  
Keith gratitude towards Allura slipped   
“Pidge and Hunk are correct. Lance was rather... full on”  
“If he was being full on, why didn’t you talk to him? We all know he’s been homesick from the beginning. We all know he was insecure”  
“We were busy with Lotor and the Alliance...”  
“There’s a difference between your friends being busy and your friends feeling like they’re only tolerating you!”  
Snapping back at Allura, Coran started pushing a water pouch into Keith’s hand. He didn’t feel particularly hunger or thirsty, mostly tired with a headache from the confusion of the situation.

“Right, I think we’re getting off topic here. Keith, what else happened when you were in there? What were you wearing? We can tell a lot from your armour what class you are”  
Lance had had a name for it... Bar... Bra... He was sure it started with a “B”  
“Wait... he was teasing me... I had two swords and I think he it started with a “B””  
“A barbarian! Excellent! We don’t have one of those in our party. Yes, it suits you well. Barbarians are lone wolves! Their anger gives them strength in battle. They’re powerful leaders, beacons of the strength that often wander alone. Finding it hard to make bonds with a party, but when they do, those bonds are near unbreakable. Courageous, brave, charging into battles people would run from... He chose the perfect class for you”

Keith almost wished Coran hadn’t explained his role to him. To him it sounded like Lance thought highly of him... too highly of him. It explained where the extra strength he’d felt came from, with his need to protect Pike while they were under attack from those lame bandits... and this bond... He’d do anything for his pack. He’d felt so alone until Shiro came into his life, now he had a pack. A pack of amazing people... who apparently were also blind. His pride in his pack was currently running low. He felt somewhat betrayed that they’d hurt Lance, and now seemed unbelieving that’s Lance wasn’t sleeping around. For all his flirting, even Keith knew that Lance wasn’t like that. He knew it. Lance was a hopeless, homesick romantic, who thought higher of him than he thought himself. Barbarians sounded pretty cool, and those two swords had been no joke.

“Keith, didn’t you mention something about Pike when you woke up?”  
Quiznak! That was right   
“I have to go back as soon as possible. Pike ended up in a net and it scared him pretty badly. I was...”  
He’d nearly let it slip that he’d cradle Lance in his arms  
“... I was trying to calm him down when I came back”  
“How did you come back? Was there something special you did?”  
Keith shook his head  
“My character was poisoned with an arrow. I was starting to feel the effects then I woke up here”  
Coran stroked his moustache   
“Interesting. There are many poisons in the game, finding the right cure could take some time. With that in mind, we shouldn’t send you straight back in. We have no idea how wounds would affect you”  
“It was a scratch”  
“Still, there’s any number of toxins and any number of potions. Best you take a shower and change your clothes. Young Krolia is sitting beside Lance. I’m sure she won’t mind”  
His mum was? Since when? And why? Right. The scent of the others in their pack could have a negative effect on Lance’s drop. Coran and Allura both had in game experience, so were needed in case the board malfunctioned. That didn’t stop him from casting a glance towards the cargo bay doors  
“He’ll be fine, Lad. He’s in good hands. If we’re sending you back in, we can’t have you collapsing on the floor again. Now off with you. We’ve got a problem to solve. Hunk, why don’t you whip something up for Keith. Our brave adventurer needs to be well fed”

The shower in Black was basic. His loin gently blushing into his mind to remind him he was still there for him. Having intended on a quick shower, Keith melted under the stream of hot water, tense muscles relaxing as he hung his head. As pack leader he was in a difficult spot. Lance was now his focus of attention. Shiro was healing, yet weak. His pack weren’t acting as he’d expected them too. Pidge might have shown initial concern for Lance, now he felt that she was more concerned with how it felt to be actually inside the game. Hunk had been Lance’s best friend, yet now he was closer to Pidge, both of them finding Lance annoying. Then there was Allura, who’d fallen head over heels for Lotor. She’d been blind to Lance. Sure, the princess had found Lance’s constant flirting less than desirable, but like the rest of them, he thought she’d come to term with it being a Lance’s way of making sure everyone on the team felt special in some way. Lance held a great deal of admiration for Allura, had Allura found it uncomfortable all she’d had to do was say as much. Shiro couldn’t be counted on. He’d been Kuron, and quiznak only knew what that evil clone had done to him. Romelle had lost her whole colony. Krolia only here as he was. Thankfully she hadn’t cornered him over their shared time on the space whale. That was a conversation he most certainly didn’t want to have. His poor space wolf didn’t seem to be missing him all that much, as he hadn’t yet come seeking him out. As for Lance’s cow, he had no idea where that had got to. His pack had had to pick up his slack, his pride should be wounded, but he felt their efforts paid some small amount of penance for their treatment of Lance. Lance who must have been so confused over what was happening the first time he felt heat like symptoms.

*  
Feeling refreshed, the tension in his shoulders relaxed, and changed into comfier clothes, Keith grabbed a couple of ration bars out his stores. Coran had sent Hunk to cook for him, but real food didn’t sound terribly appealing. He hoped wherever Pike and Dark were, they’d gotten to eat those birds that Pike had gone to such efforts to catch. Keith’s alpha let out a soft purr into his mind, telling him the qualities of the omega were most definitely admirable ones of a potential mate. Lance was swift, smart and resourceful. He was prepared to get his hands dirty, and prepared to put his life in danger for his friends. No. No. Lance was not a potential fit for a mate. He was a friend who was going to die... He didn’t want Lance to die. Lance had always wanted to go home. He deserved to go home to his family, to find that peace of mind of being reunited with them. Prodding his mind, Black was laughing at him over his internal debate. Some friend Black was. He still didn’t feel as if Black had accepted him the way Red had, the feel of his lion shifting as if in annoyance. He’d probably insulted him without intending to. Reassuring Black that he appreciated him, Keith left his lion, ration bar in hand as he patted Black’s silver bottom jaw. As lions, Red should have long known that something was wrong with Lance. He should have spoken up, or at least passed the feeling on to Black, leaving Keith miffed that he hadn’t. 

Heading up into Red, the cargo bay had been cleared of the game board, the doors to Lance’s room open. Spiking with fear, Keith jogged across the cargo bay, grabbing the door frame to support himself as he cursed himself for being so jumpy. Lance had been moved from his bed, two beds made up each side of the board, Lance’s fingers were outstretched touching the side of the device with Coran kneeling behind it  
“Number three! Come in, come in. I was just getting number four settled”  
“Why is he touching the device?”  
“Ah! That was number five! She thought it might strengthen your connection with Lance. How do you feel, my boy?”  
“I showered, had something to eat... are you sure it’s safe for Lance to be touching that?”  
Keith couldn’t take his eyes off Lance. The omega had lost some of the redness to his cheeks, yet still smelt as bad as he had  
“As sure as I can be! Now sit, I thought one bed would be adequate yet young Pidge said it wasn’t appropriate between an omega in Lance’s condition and alpha”  
“Lance is still Lance, Coran”  
“Right you are. Now let’s get you settled down here. The others should be back shorty”  
Keith felt he’d been patient enough. He’d been forced to accept Lance was indeed linked to the game board. Sitting down, he reached for the device, when he fell back he’d be falling back onto blankets and a pillow. Coran seemed to be expecting what Keith said  
“If they come, they’ll tell me to wait. We don’t have time to wait. I’m going back in. I’m going to try to stay in there and convince Lance to come back out”  
“I expected you’d say as much. Always the reckless one, number three. We’ll try access the game from out here. If we do I’ll give you a special Coran code so you know it’s me”  
As long as Coran always had that moustache of his, Keith would know him anywhere  
“Wish me luck”  
“Good luck, my boy. You bring yourselves back safely”

*  
Half expecting to be rejected by the game, Keith instead woke to find himself in a rather lumpy bed. The ceiling above made from mouldy hay, tinged green, there was no way that could healthy  
“Thunder!”  
With the sound of clattering metal, strong arms wrapped around him. The body far too big to be that of Pike’s   
“Thank the god of light that you’re okay!”  
Keith’s body felt heavy, his eyes especially. If he was waking up in this weird building, then Pike had to have got him to safety  
“Pike?”

The man holding him pulled back, his face as if Keith had cursed him  
“I expect that useless cat’s around here somewhere. Tell me how you feel? You’ve been sleeping for the last two days”  
“Pike isn’t here?”  
“No. Good thing too. He knows better than to show his face again after allowing you to be injured”  
Gyro. The Shiro of this world was Gyro. Now he had someone else to fool into thinking he was Dark. And since was he called “Thunder”? Was that a Gyro thing? Keith almost preferred being called “Dark” instead   
“Is he alright? We were attacked by bandits”  
“No doubt he’s fine doing whatever he’s doing. Do you still feel the affects of the poison? It was touch and go, your life teetering on the edge of the veil between this one and the next. The prayers and offerings have restored you... and the antidote. But surely our benevolent god spared you”  
Greeeeeat. Gyro was a religious nutter  
“I’m fine. A little tired, but more importantly was Pike really okay? He wasn’t harmed, was he?”  
“Thanks to you, he lives to see another day. It was reckless taking on so many bandits”  
“It wasn’t that bad. I couldn’t leave him to fight alone. If it wasn’t for Pike, neither of us would have survived”  
“So that cat has his other uses. Still, must you talk of him when we’ve finally reunited”  
Crap... Pike said that he and Gyro were lovers... Nope. Keith couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go there  
“You were injured. How are you?”  
“Nothing more than a few more scars. Treated and already healed thanks to Vala and Meklavar. Let me fetch you some water, you must be thirsty from your fever. I must let the party know. Block has been beside himself with worry”

Keith thought things couldn’t get any weirder... until Hunk and Pidge walked in. Hunk with his... Lance may have been a weird cat guy, but that wasn’t as weird as seeing him with a plaited beard and bowl cut. Pidge in horned armour wasn’t terribly surprising... it suited the Gremlin. Wait? Was she a “gremlin”? We’re they a... thing like a Barbarian?. Quiznak. Hadn’t he literally thought to himself before that he wished he knew more of the game? Stupid Pike making him worry about him  
“Dark!”  
Making a beeline for him, Keith nearly ended up gored by one of Pidge’s helmet horns as she hugged him   
“We were so worried when you wouldn’t respond to Block’s magic”  
“I’m fine... You know what they say, “can’t keep a barbarian down””  
Pidge pulled back to ogle him as if he’d grown a second head  
“You must still feel sickly if you’re attempting to make jokes”  
“Leave him alone, he’s spent the few days with Pike, before nearly taking an arrow to the knee because of him”  
“That useless cat. He’s probably off prowling again...”  
“So you guys haven’t seen him either?”  
“Not since he popped up out of the blue with you. Vala insisted on talking with Gyro now you’re awake. We had enough to worry about before you turned up hurt”  
“I’m fine. Doesn’t even hurt”  
“Block head. I oughta thump you one for making us worry!”  
“Guys, I’m seriously okay. A little tired, but okay. Gyro said his wounds had healed?”  
Pidge puffed out her chest  
“You bet your bottom gold he’s healed! If we hadn’t gone ahead with the loot things would have turned out for the worse. The healers had him all healed up within the day once they got their hands on the gold Block and I brought”  
“Now, now. We got that gold as a team”  
Pidge turned to silence Hunk with a glare  
“Four of the five members did. The last one conveniently turned up at the end of the battle”

“Guys, can you not talk about Pike like that?”  
Pidge whipped her head back to gape at him  
“You really must be sick. Don’t tell me you’re falling for his non-existent charms?”  
Talk about being rude  
“What I mean is, Pike is a good party member. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have survived”  
“Pike told us it was his fault you were hurt. You don’t have to lie to cover for him”  
“I got hurt because I was careless”  
“Hunk, quick. Cast a detection spell. This can’t be Dark before us!”  
Keith groaned. Magic was a thing here too. He’d had enough of Haggar and her druids, he didn’t need random spells to keep up with   
“I’m serious. Pike... is a good party member”  
Pidge shook her head  
“The Dark I know would never say that. He’s always trailing after you, and you’re always yelling when he does. I thought he was a glutton for punishment, now I see you’re as bad as him. Don’t let Gyro hear you talking about Pike”  
“Gyro needs to back off”  
Keith’s body filled warmth, almost as if he’d been submerged in a warm bath. But along with that warmth came a prodding feeling, as he had hands inside of him  
“He’s definitely Dark”  
“He’s not acting like himself. It must be the side effects of the antidote. Daaaark. It’s Meklavar and Blooock. We’re your friends”  
Now she was acting as if there was something wrong in his head. Keith was trying to make a point here, and the annoying little gremlin wouldn’t listen  
“I know who you are. I’d know your annoying voice anywhere!”  
Pidge beamed as looked to Hunk  
“It’s him. That’s him. I know that snappy tone anywhere”  
“Meklavar, maybe we should let him rest? Gyro will be upset if he pushes himself too much after waking”  
“The walking idiot who looked at a sword on fire and named it a “flaming sword”?”

“What else do you call a sword on fire?”  
Pidge jumped off his bed as Shiro and Allura came into the room. Out of all of them, Allura looked most like her usual self. Carrying a wooden tray, Keith could smell some kind of something coming it. He really didn’t want food. Pidge blushed at being sprung by Shiro, Allura ignoring it all in favour of carrying the tray over him  
“Warm porridge with honey to help with the healing”  
“I don’t like porridge...”  
“That’s strange. You asked for porridge before losing consciousness. I’m sure of it”  
“Thunder is making a joke. A bad one at that”  
“If that was a joke, it was terrible”  
Claiming he didn’t like porridge had done nothing to solve his problem of how to get rid of the porridge. He hoped to stay in this world, but if he found himself back in the real world that’d mean double the meals he’d usually have or both his teams would ask questions  
“Yeah. It was. Thanks”  
Allura beamed, turning to Hunk and Pidge... No. It was Meklavar and Block  
“We should let him rest. We still have the rest of our journey to plan. Dark, it’s so nice to see you awake again. If you’re feeling up for it, we’ll meet tomorrow downstairs for breakfast and go over the travel plans with you there”  
He had to wait that long? What if he “woke up” again before then?  
“You guys are fussing too much. Just discuss your plans here”  
Gyro crossed his arms  
“No. You need rest. The gods let you live this time, next time you may not be so lucky. I could kill that cat for leading you through the Forest of Despair. Not everyone has led an easy life like him”  
“What happened wasn’t his fault. We talked as we walked and I think you all have the wrong idea”  
Pidge sighed at Shiro, “whispering” far too loudly  
“Block cast a detection spell. He’s Dark alright. It must be the effects of the antidote”  
“That’s indeed possible. I’ll stay by his side. We’ll discuss the plans over dinner. Then we’ll be ready to depart day after tomorrow”  
“Yes, sir!”

Gyro really did make him rest. When Keith tried to stop eating the tasteless porridge, Gyro took up the discarded spoon, attempting to feed him despite Keith’s protest. When Keith wanted to remain sitting up, Gyro insisted he lay down, the man placing his hand over Keith’s. There wasn’t a single thing about this situation that Keith was comfortable with. He didn’t know these people who were wearing the faces of his friend. His brother was acting too intimate and Pike was missing. This was not what he had planned for his return. Resting was wasting time. Wriggling down the bed further so his feet hung off the edge, Keith rolled away from Gyro, closing his eyes and taking carefully measured breaths as he pretended to fall asleep. His body here actually wanted him to sleep, but his mind was too busy trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle that was Lance’s mind.

Having fallen actually to sleep, the moon was bathing the room in a silver glow when Keith woke. Unable to see anyone, he felt as if someone was there. As if someone had been watching him sleeping until his body finally snapped, forcing him to wake on edge. Sitting up, he drew his knees up, the moon so bright he didn’t need to light a candle  
“I know you’re there”  
“No, I’m not!”  
Pike. His fear fell away as his lips turned up  
“Really, idiot. I’m pretty sure the fact you answered means you are. Where are you?”  
One moment there was none, the next Pike was standing at the end of the bed  
“How did you do that?”  
“Invisibility cloak. I wanted to make sure you were okay”  
“I’m fine. How about you? I’m sorry I wasn’t much use...”  
Pike shook his head  
“Gyro was right. It was my fault you got hurt...”  
“Don’t. Don’t say that. I swear I don’t know how I’m going to react if I hear one more person blame you”  
Pike gave a hollow laugh   
“It was my fault. If I hadn’t been captured...”  
“I would have run after you anyway. I can’t remember much after cutting you down. But are you alright?”  
“I’m fine. I’m not the one who took a dose of Zilukian Toad saliva. I got as much poison as I could from the wound, but you’re an idiot for getting hit in the first place”  
Keith wrinkled his nose at the idea of toad saliva being on him, let alone coursing it’s way through his blood stream. Pike gave a more genuine laugh, before continuing   
“Pretty much. I wanted to come sooner. I’ve been waiting outside for you to wake up...”  
“The others said they couldn’t find you”  
“I was in town for a bit. Got my three copper for those feathers. Bought a few things, sold a few things, stole a few things... I didn’t want to get in anyone’s way”  
Stealing? Since when did Lance steal things? It had to be a Pike thing  
“You wouldn’t have... why don’t you come sit down?”  
“I shouldn’t. Gyro...”  
“Gyro isn’t here. If you’ve been around this long you know I wanted to see you earlier”  
“But...”  
“Pike, come sit over here already”

Pike sat on the very edge of the bed. His back straight and his ears down. Keith felt as if there was an ocean between them. Pike had to have heard the others if he’d been close  
“I won’t bite”  
“You might...”  
“I’m too tired. When was the last time you got any sleep”  
“If you’re tired, I suppose you want sex”  
Shit. He hadn’t thought of that. He wanted to talk to Pike, not do the do  
“Nah, the medications made me really drowsy”  
“Then I should go”  
As Pike went to leave, Keith grabbed him by the wrist  
“Just stay with me? I only want to talk to you”  
“I don’t think we have much to talk about”  
“I do. You did a good job with the bandits”  
Pulling Pike back, the ended up with Pike sitting on the edge of the bed and Keith still sitting facing forward  
“I should have done better”  
“It was my fault I got hurt”  
“You only got hurt because you took the short cut I insisted on”  
“I could have changed my mind. The Forest of Despair hurt you too, didn’t it?”  
Pike sighed  
“It doesn’t matter”  
“It matters to me”

Casting a glance towards Pike, Keith had the compulsion to run his fingers through his hair, curious how soft it would be. Placing his hand on his companions head, he found Pike’s hair to be as soft as Kosmo’s fur. He wanted to touch it more. Starting to massage with his fingertips, Pike have a choke purr before hastily pulling Keith’s fingers from his hair  
“Dark, what are you doing?”  
“I wanted to know if it looked as soft as it felt”  
“You should know, you’ve pulled it enough”  
Keith was glad Pike couldn’t see him blushing in the moonlight   
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I really did only ask you to stay so we could talk”  
“As I already said, I don’t know why you want to talk”  
“Because what the party said isn’t true. I know you heard them, didn’t you?”  
“What does it matter?”  
“It matters to m-e... Sorry, I didn’t mean to yawn”  
“You were wounded and you’re still recovering. I should leave so you can sleep”  
“Or you could stay. I bet you haven’t been sleeping, have you?”  
“I don’t want to sleep. I don’t even have a room... we didn’t have enough money left over”  
Keith frowned. That sounded like a dick excuse to him. If they had money to eat, they surely had money so Pike could have a proper night’s sleep   
“You could sleep here”  
“No, you need your bed”  
“We could share”  
“The others would...”  
“Pike. I’m only going to say this once. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I find myself disagreeing with the te-party. Disagreeing with the party. You’re an important member of this group”  
“You’re only saying that because your drugged up... I could die again for this party and it’d never be enough”  
Keith’s heart started to race. He was sure he hadn’t heard that wrong  
“Die... again?”  
“It’s nothing. I’m being stupid. I appreciate the offer but I’ll just sleep outside tonight”  
“Pike, wait...”  
“It’s fine Dark”  
“It’s not fine. Look, I’m feeling confused about a few things and I want to talk to you. You know how the others get. So I want to know what you think. You’re definitely not sleeping outside again, either. Take your boots off and get into bed already”

Maybe because he’d basically said that Pike would be doing him a favour by staying, the cat-man stripped down from his armour to his loose clothes, sliding under the covers then rolling on his stomach. Having slid back down under the warm blankets, Keith rolled himself over to face Pike  
“That’s better...”  
“You said you were confused”  
“I am. I feel like lately I’m another person and I thought you might understand”  
Pike ducked his head  
“Is this why you’ve been so nice to me when you used to hate me?”  
“I never hated you”  
“You sicced your wolf on me”  
He had a wolf? Out there he had Kosmo, but Lance had decided he needed Kosmo in here too?  
“I’m sorry. I’ve been... I’ve been thinking a lot and I don’t think I like the way things are”  
“That’s the way they’ve been for months now. It doesn’t matter how far we travel”  
Pike sounded so lonely that keith reached out. Wrapping his arm around Pike, Pike stiffened under his touch  
“Relax. I’m not going to play with your hair again”  
“Then why?”  
“Because you needed a hug?”

Pike gave a laugh, rolling back to lay on his side before reaching out on bopping Keith on the tip of his nose  
“You barbarian types sure are strange”  
“Maybe I’m not as barbarian as you though?”  
“No. You are. You’re cool and dependable. All rugged and grizzly. You’re not the first Barbarian I’ve met, but you are the strangest”  
“This coming from the man who’s part cat?”  
“Cats are cool. We’re all stealthy and good at hiding... that’s what make us good rogues. That and we can see pretty well in the dark”  
“Speaking of “dark”, why do you call me “Dark”?”  
“Um? Because that’s your name?”  
“Gyro calls me “Thunder””  
“That’s just what Paladins do. Dude, you really are acting weird. You’ve known him waaaaay longer than you’ve known the rest of us. Are you finally going to admit that “Darkstorm Thunderspear” isn’t your real name? Is that what’s got you so confused? Is it a Barbarian thing that I’m missing? I tried to read up on Barbarian’s but I don’t know that much...”  
It was the name Lance gave him. It might be crappy, but it was kind of special because Lance picked it...  
“No. It’s my name... Barbarians have such weird names?”  
Pike missed the slight question in his words  
“Between “Stoneface the Whitehair” and “Faraway Wanderer the Returner”, you tell me”  
Keith nodded, his name really didn’t sound so ridiculous in comparison. Letting it sink in, he barely kept himself from laughing as he realised “Stoneface” had to be Kolivan. Adding the word “the” made it funnier for no apparent reason.

“Are you okay, you’re twitching? I should go...”  
“No. No. I’m fine. I was picturing Stoneface is all”  
“They say he’s one of the greatest Barbarians. Have you met him?”  
“I have. His name really says it all”  
Pike hummed, the poor cat-man was starting to fall asleep  
“If you’re tired, we can talk in the morning”  
“No. It’s just a bed feels so good after sleeping outside for so long. I’ve become spoilt”  
“A spoilt house cat sounds like a nice life”  
“If I was, I could nap in the sun”  
“And eat all the fish you want?”  
“I can already do that. When we started adventuring I was so sure I would make it big... I come from a big family and it’s easy to overlook people there. You’re an only child, aren’t you? I don’t know how Barbarian clans work”  
“Only child. My dad kind of died when I was young”  
“You said it was a fire... I remember now. I’m sorry for asking”  
“You saved my life, you’re allowed to ask me whatever you want to know”  
Pike hummed in the thought  
“I guess I want to know why you care”  
“Because you’re a member of the party”  
That wasn’t the right answer. Pike’s face filled with sadness. Keith having to think quick   
“I mean you’re an essential part of the party... and I don’t know... I want to think of us as friends. And, you’re the best bird plucker I know”  
“I knew you didn’t actually want to pluck that bird”  
“I would have”  
“No, it would have been beneath your Barbarian ways. How do Barbarians eat their kill? Do you guys cut the head off and bath in their blood or something?”  
“Not enough blood in a small bird like that”  
Pike’s eyes widened, before he scowled  
“You has me going there!”  
“I know I did”  
“I can’t believe I thought maybe you were more than being big and cool”  
“So you think I’m cool?”  
“Shut up. Just go to sleep”  
“Nope. You think I’m cool”

With a huff, Pike rolled over to face the other way. Moving, Keith pulled Pike up to him  
“What are you doing now?”  
“You’ve decided you’re not talking to me. So we’re going to sleep”  
“You’re cuddling me. You don’t cuddle anyone ever. Except for Gyro”  
“I think of Gyro as my brother”  
“And what am I?”  
With how warm Pike’s body was against him, Keith didn’t need to think over his answer  
“A hot water bottle”  
“Geez. Thanks”  
“It’s true. Your body is hot”  
The moment the words left his lips, Keith blushed from head to toe  
“Awww. You think I’m hot”  
“I said your body is hot. You know what I meant”  
“That my body is hot. You think I’m hot...”  
“Temperature wise. Physically”  
“So you like my physique?”  
“Just shut up already”  
“Nope. You said I was hot”  
“And you said I was rugged and grizzled. That must mean you think I’m hot”

Pike stiffened, hastily defending himself   
“Whaaaat?! No. I was making an observation”  
“Nope. That’s not what you said”  
“You can’t turn this back on me”  
“Really? Because I’m pretty sure I did”  
“That’s not fair”  
“Too bad”  
Huffing, the cat man pulled the blankets up. The touch of bantering leaving Keith smiling far too stupidly as Pike mumbled   
“See. This is what happens when there’s only one bed”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “And there was only one bed!”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! Sorry! Please forgive me. I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday so it’s hard for me to keep my schedule on those days. None of these chapters are pre-written, and I promise you each prompt will be completely!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading xx

Pike had slipped from the bed by the time morning had rolled around. Keith woken by Gryo taking his place. Pike had been warm and comforting against him, Keith unable to keep himself from playing with the man’s hair once he’d fallen asleep. For Pike to be left outside in the cold didn’t sit right with him, nor did laying around in bed when there things to be done... and nor did laying in bed with the man he considered to be his brother. That was... plain weird. Keith simply couldn’t do it. As Gyro slid under the sheets on one side, Keith slid out from under the sheets on the other. The floor was painfully cold against his bare feet, but at least he’d managed to put space between him and Gyro. Walking to the window, Keith moved their curtain back to survey the world outside. With a creak of the bed, Gyro was soon climbing out and joining him on the wrong side of the room. Shiro standing behind him was unnerving. He felt far too close  
“You should be resting”  
“I’ve rested enough. We should think of leaving this town as soon as possible”  
“Anxious to leave already? We’ve barely spent any time together”  
“Gyro...”  
Turning to his brother, Gyro pushed a hard and hungry kiss to his lips, shocked by the aggressiveness, and the fact his brother was kissing him, Keith felt himself start to fall. Trying to cling onto the reality, his whole world went black before he was finding himself laying on the floor of Lance’s room. He could still feel the kiss on his lips and he couldn’t describe the number of ways he felt wrong about it. Rubbing his lips far more forcefully than necessary, Keith scrunched up his face in disgust  
“I’m not in love with Shiro!”

“That’s good to know”  
Jumping at his mother’s voice, Keith pushed himself up as he scowled in her direction   
“What are you doing here?”  
“Keeping an eye on you. Still, it’s nice to know you’re not in love with Shiro. That’d make all of this far more complicated, though if you were, at least one member of your pack might be happier to see you back”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“Oh, you know. Coran told the whole team how you valiantly declared you weren’t coming back until you’d saved Lance”  
Stupid Coran. He couldn’t control when Lance kicked him out of his stupid head. Stupid Lance. How could he think he was in love with him. Keith would be lying if he didn’t say there wasn’t more than once he’d wondered what could have been between them. It was only natural when Shiro to go be stupidly hot. But back on Earth, Adam was waiting. He’d hated Adam for so long, for abandoning Shiro the way he had. He hadn’t been able to process his feelings, to untangle his own anxieties and abandonment issues from the reality at hand. Adam had loved Shiro, and asked him to stay so they might spend whatever time Shiro had remaining together. Shiro had chosen one last adventure over the man he’d been engaged to. He understood how much that must have hurt Adam. Now they were finally returning home, he hoped that Adam would be waiting for there for his brother   
“I take it they’re pissed?”  
“Well, they’re not exactly happy. They’re sitting around the campfire looking as if someone died”

“Fuck!”  
How could he forget that not so tiny detail Lance had dropped on him?! Lance had said he’d died. He didn’t know if that meant in game, he hoped it meant in game, but now he had the feeling it was clue to whatever started Lance’s downward spiral. Gathering himself up, there was amusement in Krolia’s expression as Keith rushed to the door, pausing to look at back at his mother. He’d expected her to be confused, not amused. His alpha mentally raising its hackles at his mother, who had no idea what she’d just done   
“Going somewhere?”  
“Lance said something and I need to go. Watch over him for me!”

Jogging from Red and over to the campfire, he found the team wasn’t there. Instead Green had her side Cargo bay door open, his pack seemed to be all gathered there. Pushing himself a little harder, his legs ached from the short burst of exercise. Perhaps travelling between the game and reality was having more of an affect on him than they thought? He felt refreshed as if he had slept through the night, now that the initial disgust of the kiss had passed   
“You idiot. What were you thinking? We thought you were going to end up trapped in there with him!”  
Jumping up from her seat on the floor, Pidge threw her arms around him   
“Don’t say stuff like that again”  
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry. Guys, I need to ask you something”  
Prying Pidge off, Keith tried to keep the accusation from his voice as he prayed to whoever listening was wrong. Pidge’s eyes were wide, Hunk had already started nervously wringing his hands, Shiro was scowling, yep. The perfect time for asking such a potentially loaded question  
“Did Lance die? At any point, while I was gone, did he die?”

Hunk let out a huge breath of relief. The scent of the pack shifting to something still worried, yet somewhat more neutral. Pidge laughed, her laughter grating yet relieving. Despite how Hunk and Pidge had left Lance to feel isolated and insecure, Pidge wouldn’t be laughing if it was true   
“Pfft. Keith, if Lance died, don’t you think we’d all know about it?”  
Flicking his gaze from Pidge to Hunk, Hunk shook his head   
“Are we talking in game or real life, because it didn’t happen either in, man”  
Looking to Shiro it took Keith a tick to remember his brother wasn’t actually there. Romelle would have no clue either, leaving Coran and Allura  
“Coran? Allura? Do you what he meant when he said he’d died and it still wasn’t enough for you?”  
Allura’s eyes welled with tears  
“Oh... no...”  
Her whispered words drew the attention of the pack. Her soft tone said it all. Keith’s stomach plummeting, his voice a growl  
“What do you mean “oh, no”? Did Lance die? You better not be joking, because this isn’t funny”  
“He... how could I be so blind... He took an energy blast to save me... He was only gone a few doboshes, I was able to bring him right back... Oh, Lance...”

Keith’s body moved automatically, before he knew what he was doing, he’d boarded Green and grabbed Allura by the shoulders   
“He died?! And you didn’t say anything?! How... what... what the fuck were you thinking?!”  
Allura shook as he broke down weeping, Shiro had grabbed him around the waist, pulling him back from the Princess  
“Keith...”  
“Lance fucking died! A pack member died and you all didn’t know?! Did no one talk to him?! Did no one check up on him?!”  
Keith was furious, and he was only furious because he didn’t have another word to describe the anger he felt. His alpha felt as though it’d taken a physical wound, howling in anguish over the near loss of Lance  
“I’m sorry! He... he seemed fine...”  
“He died! Sorry isn’t good enough! How could all let this happen?!”  
“He took the blast that should have hit me... I did this to him, didn’t I? I... didn’t know... I didn’t mean...”  
Coran wrapped an arm around Allura’s shoulder, Allura turning into the comfort offered, succeeding in making Keith angrier  
“We’re a fucking pack! It’s not enough you let him fall into a drop, you neglected him! He probably thought you all knew and didn’t care!”  
“Keith, hold on. That’s enough. They didn’t know”

Wrenching himself out Shiro’s hold, he snarled, exposing his sharpened teeth   
“They should have! You all should have! He never felt good enough to be on the team, and now you’ve shoved it in his face how little you cared! We asked if he’d had some kind of trauma and all of you kept your mouths shut!”  
“It wasn’t...”  
“It wasn’t what? It wasn’t like that? No wonder he fucking changed. No wonder he fucking dropped”  
“Are you saying I brought him back... wrong?”  
Allura was game opening her mouth, Keith snapping harshly   
“There’s nothing wrong with him! There wasn’t anything wrong with him when we thought he was a beta, and there’s nothing wrong with him being an omega!”  
“Keith, you need to calm down. Allura had no idea”  
“No! You need to calm up! He’s sick because his omega side shifted. He’s sick because if he wasn’t going to present properly, he would have done before! He’s sick because he tried to ignore his natural instincts, he didn’t make a nest, he probably didn’t even understand why his body felt the way it did! He presented as an omega and didn’t even secure enough to tell any of you, nor did he feel like he could come to any of us for help. He... he just... Fuck!”

Covering his face, Keith’s anger turned to grief. He was angry at the pack, but he was beyond angry with himself. He should have known. He should have paid more attention. He could have lost Lance forever, dead in his lion while he wasn’t there. How many times had Lance thought they knew? How many times had he thought some joke was an intentional jab at his death? When Shiro placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder, Keith shrugged him off. He felt so fucking lost. His pack felt like strangers. Lance wasn’t there to turn to for advice. He wasn’t there to stalk after him and force him to either yell at him “to go away” or listen patiently as Keith’s emotions overwhelmed him and he needed to vent. Lance was always like that. Whenever he’d take off, Lance would come to check on him. He was more than a pack mate, he was... he was his best friend. The friend he’d seen so many visions of while stranded on the whale with his mother. He hadn’t even had a nice word for him when he’d returned...  
“Keith...”  
“I’m going to Red. I can’t be here right now”

Kosmo had come back from wherever he’d been, letting himself into Lance’s room, his wolf was sleeping at the end of the blankets. The scene bittersweet, Lance needed a friend and now Kosmo had decided they were friends, Lance wasn’t conscious to enjoy it  
“Keith?”  
“Not now, mum”  
He’d forgotten Red wouldn’t be the private escape he needed. His alpha was far too enthused at his return to Lance’s side. After holding Pike, he knew what it was like to hold Lance in his arms. He wanted to ignore the unwritten protocol and crawl into bed beside his om- his friend. Whatever notions his alpha was indulging in, he couldn’t let himself slip. He couldn’t let himself think of Lance as his so suddenly  
“You’re shaking, and you’re crying. Did something happen? Does it have to do with Lance? I know I don’t know him as you do, but I did get a feel for him through your visions. I know you care for him”  
“Mum... just... don’t...”  
“Keith, I want to help. I know you think you the burden of recent events rests on your shoulders, but it doesn’t. You had no idea Lance was suffering”  
“You’re right. Some pack leader I am. Lance died and the whole pack didn’t even know. He didn’t... he was gone. He was gone and Allura brought him back to life”  
He was frustrating his mother, Krolia telling him shortly   
“You can’t blame yourself for that”  
“Then who do I blame? Lance? For doing what he’s always done? For placing the pack above his own life? Allura, for not telling anyone? Pidge and Hunk for not checking he was alright after the blast? He was dead, mum... he was dead and I wasn’t there”  
“You left the pack, Keith. You felt like you had your own journey to embark on. Lance’s action may have been stupid, or it may have been him looking at the bigger picture. If your pack made him feel unappreciated, then he acted as if his life was worth the sacrifice for the good of Voltron”  
“No sacrifice is worth it... I don’t want to lose any of my pack...”  
“Especially not the one you’re acting like an idiot over”  
“I’m not acting like an idiot”  
“Tell that time your alpha then. It’s clear it’s got it’s got its eyes set on Lance”  
Keith already knew as much. He also knew his alpha was a dumb beast, probably projecting it’s own desperation onto the man who’d been his rock  
“I’ve already told it as much. Besides, we’re not having this conversation. I’m not losing any one else. I don’t think... I don’t think I’m strong enough to lose anyone else... I was so focused on Shiro... I should still be focused on Shiro...”  
“Keith, let me ask you something. Are you projecting that fear onto Lance, or are you seeing Lance for himself. For more than a dying omega?”

Keith stared at Krolia blankly. How was he supposed to answer that? Lance was his friend. His dumb arse friend who was faithful no matter what the circumstances. His friend who’d made him believe the could be the pack leader their pack needed  
“Do you want to save Lance for his sake or yours?”  
Rewording the question didn’t make things easier  
“I... I don’t know. Lance he... he was always there. He was annoying as quiznak when I met him... but... he was always there. Now he’s not, I feel so lost. He’s... after Shiro, he’s the one who gave me the most support. The one who... I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m feeling. When I look at him, I hate myself for not noticing... I hate him for not telling us”  
“And this has nothing to do with what we saw on the whale during our mission?”  
“I don’t know that either”

A red sunset over a desert. Lance laughing as he ran along the beach towards the clear ocean. Kosmo bounding after him. The pair of them waiting for him in the water. A lazy morning, drinking coffee over a kitchen counter. Nothing overly special. Nothing overly detailed. All snippets of futures that could be. But that was the thing, they were all possible futures with nothing more than a lingering feeling of peace. Lance smiled so happily. Freed from his role as Red Paladin... Freed from their pack...

“I think you do. You were fond of him when you thought him a beta”  
“I thought we were best friends... He didn’t tell me he was a beta-omega. Why didn’t he tell me?”  
“It’s possible he wanted you to see him as more than that? It’s also possible he didn’t want the team to treat him as anything less than they did. It’s possible he planned to, but never found the words before you left. If it counts, I think he held feelings for you. Whether friendship or not, I found something in his belongings that belong to you”

Krolia walked over to Lance’s bed, lifting up the folded blanket sitting upon it. Under it sat Keith’s old red jacket. With all that had happened, he hadn’t given his jacket a second thought  
“It appears at some stage it was ripped on the inside. He fixed it. I think he wanted to return it to you, but was embarrassed considering you came back “all rugged and grizzled”. For him, seeing you in that jacket must have been his idea of you truly returning to your pack. I’m not going to stop you going back in, but you have to start preparing yourself. You might try as hard as you can, but there are somethings in life that you can’t change, no matter how hard you fight”

Krolia placed his jacket back on Lance’s bed, before leaving him. The space felt weird as Lance lay still unconscious. He didn’t know what Lance wanted from him. He didn’t understand. Had Lance really been waiting for him to return? Did he miss him as his pack leader, his friend, or as something else? Walking over to Lance’s bed, Keith sank down on the edge as he gathered his jacket up. Raising it to his face, he breathed in Lance’s scent, so many emotions clung to the fabric. He could smell Lance’s pride, almost picture him bragging over fixing whatever tear there’d been. He could smell Lance’s happiness. Yet... He could smell Lance’s fear. His pain. His broken heart. The jacket may as well be soaked with Lance’s tears for how it felt in his hands. His mother was right. Keith could feel Lance’s intention to return his once precious jacket to him the tick he’d taken it into his hands. The garment lovingly folded, spotlessly cleaned beneath the varied scents. If their roles had been reserved, Keith was sure he wouldn’t have reacted the same with Lance’s jacket. His sewing was limited to stitching wounds, not intricate stitching for things such as pockets and jacket liners. Raising his head, Keith gazed down at Lance. How long had it been since he dropped? How long had it been since they landed? How long had been trapped in that game, waiting for someone to come for him? Lost and confused, trapped a world created by his mind that continued to hurt him in ways his pack no longer could. Taking the jacket with him, Keith slid off the bed, crawling across the room to slot himself down between Lance and the game projector. He wasn’t about to let Lance stay lost. Draping his jacket over Lance’s blanket covered shoulders, Keith took a breath before making sure he was comfortable. He didn’t care how many times he had to send himself back in, he was getting Lance out... Realising he may have been a bit too ambitious thinking he could simply stay in there because he wished it so. 

*  
Stumbling in his stride, Keith found himself outside the lodgings he’d woken in. Beside him, Gyro had taken him by the arm to prevent his fall  
“Thunder?”  
“I’m fine”  
It would have been nice if there had been some kind of loading screen, or a mysterious narrator that appeared to inform him of the party’s decision while he’d been away. He’d said something or other over leaving the town, the party seemed to have taken the suggestion... as they were now in another damn forest   
“I told them it was too soon... we should rest”  
“You’re overreacting. Where are we?”  
“We’re the same place we’ve been for the last three vargas”

Gyro began drawing his sword at the sound of Pike’s voice. The cat-man embracing the shadows to appear invisible to the party, at least to Keith he was. Ahead of them Vala, Meklavar, and Block, all ignored Pike’s comment  
“What do you mean?”  
“Ignore him, Dark. He’s been saying the same thing for the last varga”  
“That’s because we’ve been walking around in circles”  
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Pike. If we keep walking this way, we’ll hit the coast line. Then we just need to follow it until we reach the river mouth...”  
“Yep, then it’s a hop, skip, and jump across the lake, up and over the mountains...”  
“Across the Bridge of Blood...”  
“Through the Quite Plains”  
“Around the Green Mines...”  
“And then we can finally hand the pearl to the Princess!”  
Meklavar and Block high-tenned enthusiastically, speaking their last sentence in synch. All of that had gone over Keith’s head, the only thing he understood was that there was still quite the journey before them.

Pike hushed the party, re-emerging from the shadows, Lance cupped his hand to his ear. His right ear seemed to be stretched, almost enough to be called “straining” towards a noise source Keith couldn’t see  
“Shhh... Guys, you’re being too loud”  
“Says you”  
“The town people said they were have problems with the Weabloanian Worms. We’re in their territory”  
“Pike, you wouldn’t know a Weabloanian Word if it snuck up and bit your tail”  
Pike’s tail wrapped itself around his waist the best he could. Forcing an intentional stumble, Gyro immediately dropped his sword back into its sheath, loudly declaring   
“Thunder needs to rest. We left far too soon”  
Keith was inclined to believe Lance. No. Inclined wasn’t the right terminology. Lance had insider knowledge. All of this was in his head. Lance would expect a different set of circumstances and some form of local myth from village to village, not knowing he was the one causing them to spawn   
“Maybe you’re right? I do feel warm”  
“Let me help you...”  
“Guys! I don’t think now’s the time for a break... I hear something coming”  
Gyro wrapped his arm around Keith’s waist, “supporting” him over to a fallen tree as he commented  
“And we’re about to hear something going if you don’t stop talking. Thunder isn’t feeling well, something you would know if you bothered to pay attention. He asked you to leave him alone this morning, multiple times, and you’ve done nothing but continue to be irritating”  
“Don’t talk to him like that. If Pike says he hears something, then I believe him”

Gyro drew his brow, lips pursed in displeasure   
“Why are you defending him? Not even half a varga ago were you complaining over his mood”  
Keith blinked, eyes then narrowing as he bit the inside of his cheek. He hadn’t been in the game half varga ago. That meant that Dark still existed, even when Keith wasn’t the one controlling him. He really should have known, or suspected that was the case. If Dark was to disappear from the party, Pike would be the first to notice... but what if he did? What if the times he wasn’t inside the game, Dark didn’t actually exist, and whatever happened, was filled in by Lance’s brain to make him believe that Keith was there the whole time? From the sound of it, he’d hurt Pike’s feelings. The moment they’d shared in Keith’s sick bed must have felt as if he’d been mocking Pike for not having a room. Dark sounded a bit of dick if he was honest   
“I was wrong. I am wrong. If Pike believes we’ve been walking in circles because we’re lost than I believe him. Pike, have we?”

Pike nodded quickly as he drew his small blade, the only one on guard against the invisible threat  
“We’ve passed the same trees twice now. Plus, that range of mountains in the distance is now on the wrong side of ya. Vala’s familiar must have been confused by the magic here”  
Vala drew herself up, chest puffed out  
“My familiar wouldn’t be affected by such low level magic. I don’t remember passing this place”  
“Give it a break, Pike. Vala isn’t interested in a man who can’t even read basic directions”  
“I can read the directions just fine”  
“Says you. None of us have forgotten that time you set Laikala the Cerberus upon the party”  
“How was I supposed to know the Lord of the Manor had a penchant for three headed hell beasts he’d soul tapped?”  
“Because it was obviously not what we were looking for!”  
Hunk held his arms wide,  
“Pike, Meklavar, let us not fight. Vala, why don’t you dismiss your familiar and allow them to rest?”  
Great... Never had Keith mentally said “Great” to himself so many times as he had since falling into this bizarre reality. He had no idea what a familiar actually did or was... The “bird” on Allura’s shoulder let out a sad cry, it’s white body glowing brightly before it turning into a ball of cool silver light. Floating on a invisible breeze, Allura raised her hands to cup the orb carefully, before it disappeared completely   
“Her magic feels drained. She will need the night to recharge. Perhaps it’s best we rest for now, and set out in the morning with clear minds?”  
Pidge nodded her agreement happily. Keith again, confused. If Vala’s companion had her magic drained, didn’t that mean Pike was right? That the magic of the... Weabloanian Worm Woods had affected the dank air in some way?  
“Oooh, Block can cook up some of that salted pig he picked up in the town. I’m starving already”  
Gyro gave a hearty laugh   
“There are worse ways to be lost. I agree. Block, if you’d like to begin preparing the evening meal, I will see to Thunder. Vala, perhaps you and Meklavar can collect firewood for the camp?”

“What can I do?”  
Keith may have been seated. Gyro may have been fussing over removing the twin blades from his back sheaths to make him more comfortable. The words may have escaped out of habit rather than actual want to partake in the party making a bad decision   
“You rest. Pike will patrol the permitter.  
“Pike is trying to tell you that... Oooooh, Quiznak!”

Erupting from beneath the ground with an explosion of dirt and debris, a loud thud came as the feared Weabloanian reared its ugly head. Wriggling it’s mucus covered body, the best was every bit as horrific as the animal it was based upon, yet carried itself with an air of belonging. There were a few key differences when compared to its counterpart, namely its size. Thought absolutely massive, at least the width of the trees in the Forest Of Despair, it hadn’t breached the surface completely. It’s long body disappearing beneath the trees it’d unrooted. Opening its mouth it’s body pulsed, green goop gushing across the ground towards them. Quiznak it was putrid. Everything in the realm was so damn putrid. Why couldn’t they meet a nice forest fairy to sweep them away to the Castle? Maybe they would have given them tea? Then they’d sleep upon hammocks far up in the canopy of the woods. Keith shook his head, annoyed he’d channeled Lance so hard he’d ended up in a day dream. He didn’t want tea in some fairy’s house. He wanted a free ride to the finish line, with Lance, and to get him the quiznak out of dodge  
“Look out! It’s acidic! Weabloanian Griss with dissolve anything it can, including magic!”  
“Thanks, Pike! How about shutting up so we can kill this thing?!”

Pike pouted, Keith making another mental note. Meklavar seemed as cruel as Gryo. Where Meklavar would tell Pike to shut up, there was something else in Gyro’s coldness. Was he jealous of the time Da-Keith had spent with Lance? Or did Gyro realise that Keith was moving past him? Or was he reading all of this wrong and Lance wasn’t as scared of Gyro as it seemed? Raising its mammoth body, the Weabloanian’s mouth opened wide to reveal its glistening white teeth   
“It’s getting ready to spit again! Look out?!”

As the Weabloanian spewed our its acidic attack, the body of the great beast fell, after shocks leaving them barely able to stay on their feet. Kicking up leaf litter, the tainted material rained down on them, each of them diving for shelter and causing Pike to be lost from his view.


	7. Loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry!!!  
> Between work and Minecraft (how pretty is the nether update?!?!?) this chapter was delayed

“Pike!”

As the dust settled, the worm started to slither. Despite his eyes burning from the tainted debris, Keith could blearily make out their party. All of them had scattered, the worm now surrounded on six sides, but the most important side, Pike’s side, wasn’t immediately visible from where Keith was. To reach where he’d roughly calculated Pike to be, it meant crossing in from of the angry hulking worm. Yelling Pike’s name had been a stupid thing to do, the worm drawn to the loud sound. Wiping his eyes, the moment very nearly caused him to be hit by the next spray of acid  
“I’ll draw it’s attention! You get out of there!”

That brave and stupid fool! What did Pike hope to do by making himself the target  
“Over here! Hey, you big stupid worm! This way!”  
Drooling acid, the Weabloanian worm turned its head in Pike’s direction  
“Yeah, you! Ugly! You kiss your mum with that mouth, or what?!”  
Hissing, the worm launched itself at Pike, Pike must have taken off running as the creature slithered forward faster than Keith had expected. Lance was certainly making a target of himself   
“Come and get me!”

Whizzing through the air, a blazing arrow hit the beast in the side of the head. The archer running towards him as she fired  
“Dark, we have to get out of here while it’s distracted!”  
“We’re not leaving Pike”  
Reaching him, Vala grabbed him by the hand  
“We have to go! We can’t take on enraged Weabloanian worm!”  
Pulling his hand back, Keith shook his head, repeating his words   
“We’re not leaving Pike”  
“He’s distracted it”  
“And we’re not leaving him to deal with it!”  
“Dark, we don’t have time for this...”  
“Then we make time! Pike isn’t dying for this party again! We’re not leaving him for the worm to consume”  
Vala pulled up short, her eyes wide. Keith remembering that this wasn’t actually Allura. Acknowledging Pike’s death, meant acknowledging it in Lance’s mind  
“How did you know Pike died?”  
“He told me himself. He told me when none of you thought to. I won’t leave him behind”  
“There’s nothing we can do”  
“There has to be! He’s a member of our party, no matter what, I refuse to let him be hurt any further than he is”  
“He’s just...”  
“He’s not just “anything”. Pike isn’t like us. He wears his heart on his sleeve and would do anything for his team, even when they don’t deserve him. Somewhere out there, there could be another version of us. An us who knew he died, and knew you revived him. An us that wasn’t so horrible to him. He’s important to me, and I’m not about to abandon him, even when he’s being an idiot. Now, how do I defeat this Weabloanian worm?”  
Vala stared at him, then turned to face the worm  
“If you can drive both swords into its brain, it might retreat...”  
“Good. Gather the others and get them away from here, Pike and I will stop this worm”  
“Just the two of you?”  
“What can I say? We’ve always made a good team. We’re going to defeat this worm, and we’re going to get that Pearl to the castle”  
Keith hoped Lance was hearing every word he was saying. He hoped that he’d made Lance aware of the fact that Allura had neglected to tell them anything of the incident that had temporarily cost him his life.

Running towards the beast, Keith dodged the bubbling pools of acid. His strength growing as he ran with the single minded goal of stopping the Weabloanian in order to save Lance. With Pike still yelling insults, it’s attention remained on him, nearing its body, Keith ran parallel to the beast, not terribly keen on being covered with slime before making the leap to its back. He had no way of knowing if it was as acidic as the acid it spewed, but that was a chance he was going to have to take. Ignoring his words, or perhaps moved by his words, Vala started firing arrows along the Weabloanian’s side, Keith able to reach its back thanks to the two arrows close enough together for him to be able to reach. Throwing himself towards the beast, he used the arrows to heft himself up onto its slippery back, not liking that his new ride was lacking in anything to grip with  
“Dark!”  
“Keep it distracted!”  
“What are you doing?! Get down from there!”  
Roaring, the beast crashed from tree to tree, Keith drawing his blades and stabbing them into the monster’s flesh to avoid being flung by its violent movements. Rearing beneath him, it shot out a fresh batch of acid towards Pike  
“Vala says if we stab its brain, we can bring it down!”  
“That’s on you! If it moves, you stab it. That’s your thing-ahhhh!”  
Throwing himself around the closest tree as he started doubling back the way they’d come, Pike’s tail nearly got caught in the fresh wave of acid. Gripping his precious tail to his chest, the idiot tripped himself over, the worm skidding into more trees as it tried to negotiate the same U-turn  
“Pike!”

Pike was taking far too long to get back up. This stupid worm far too annoying to let live. Pulling his swords free, Keith used then to support himself up the beast, dodging falling branches as he did. Bellowing in disgust, perhaps at being beaten by Pike, or being stabbed repeatedly as Keith climbed its hulking body, it dove upwards, slamming down again with enough force that Keith slipped against his own sword, cutting into his leg as he held on for dear life. Why Pike hadn’t equipped himself with some sort of blaster was beyond him. With Lance’s skill, the klutz of a cat could have easily shot the worm between they eyes, or better yet, in both eyes so the beast couldn’t see its prey  
“Pike! Get up!”  
Looking back over his shoulder, Pike scrambled to his feet, running straight into the closest tree. Pike might be an idiot, but he was his idiot... The party’s idiot... not Keith’s idiot... maybe... Their pack’s idiot, but in a good way. A needed way. Great, now he was justifying instead of concentrating   
“Vala! Cover Pike!”

“Dark! Bring it this way!”  
As if he could control this thing? Could Meklavar not see him hanging on?! And why was Vala now shooting flaming arrows at the tree Pike had face crashed into?!  
“I’m not controlling this thing!”  
“Then try!”  
“Sorry, too busy stabbing it!”  
“Block! Shoot it!”  
“I’m a healer!”  
“Then make it feel warm and fuzzy inside!”  
Keith didn’t need to be able to control the Weabloanian, the beast turning at the sound of Block and Meklavar yelling at each other. With Meklavar in the middle, gripping her battle axe, Block stood the left, and Gyro on the right. Gyro’s sword was blazing, Block holding his staff pointed at the beast. Waving the staff, a shot of yellow got all of a foot before falling and exploding in front of them  
“Block!”  
“I told you I’m a healer!”  
They were barreling right for the party   
“Move!”

Using his swords like hiking poles, Keith raced up the beasts neck. Vala had said aim for the brain, how was he supposed to know where the brain was? Did worms have brains in their head? If he stabbed it enough times, it was surely bound to stop... raising both blades, he stabbed down on the crown of the creatures head, blue blood splattering him as he did. This had officially hit revolting. Keith could feel his skin crawling as if trying to shrink away from his armour. Howling, the Weabloanian shook its head  
“Stab it again!”  
Meklavar sounded enthusiastic, Keith mentally rolling his eyes as he did just that. He had no real quarrel with the beast. Raising his blades, they squelched sliding out of the beasts flesh, blood oozing freely as his toes started to tinge. Stabbing down again, the Weabloanian reared it’s head back, vomiting out acid. Keith had no choice but to jump to escape the shower, landing and rolling to a stop mere inches from the closest pool of acid. Howling with rage, the beast then charged the closed tree head first, banging its head, then banging it repeatedly as it tried to free its self of the deeply impaled swords. Running over to him, the four of them watched the beast in its throws of death, before the creature gave one final roar. Firing a barrage of arrows towards the beast, the creature not rising again.

“We did it!”  
Meklavar went to throw her arms around him, stopping when she saw how bloodied Keith was  
“I’m not hugging that”  
Keith scrunched his nose up. The blood felt worse now it was drying   
“You guys didn’t do anything. Pike did”  
“He ran into a tree”  
Hunk nodded, before agreeing   
“He certainly did... should we go check on him? I feel we should go check on him”  
“I’m sure that cowardly cat was trying to run away... Thunder, we should get you cleaned up”  
Keith flicked his hands, trying to flick off the blood he could. Gryo was on his last nerve. Did Shiro really pay that much attention to him that Lance mistakingly thought there was something more?  
“I’m fine... mostly fine. Why is this stuff so sticky? You all know it’s because of Pike causing a distraction, I was able to bring this thing down. He knew he could be hurt, but for the good of the team he put his life in danger. At least Vala helped by supplying cover fire... ugh, this stuff is revolting”  
“It’s not our fault. No one in their right mind would take on a Weabloanian worm when it’s enraged”  
“Pike did. He did that for all of us. You all owe him an apology and a big thank you on top of that. Now, while you sit here and figure out how you’re all going to make it up to him, I’m doing to check on him and make sure he’s alright”  
Scolding the team Keith felt more like a father to three spoilt brats then a member of the party. Caught up in the moment he forgot all this was in Lance’s head. Having to accept that this goop was drying faster than he could wipe it off, Keith still tried to free himself of what he could on his hands as he turned to walk towards Pike and the fallen beast.

Pike was seated beneath the remains of a tree, his tail laying across his lap as he stared down  
“Pike, are you ok?”  
Raising his head, his party member had his eyes closed  
“I’m okay”  
Crouching down in front of him, Keith took Pike’s face in his hands. Both of his party member’s eyes were red  
“Are you sure? What did you was incredible stupid”  
“I know”  
Pike sounded so sad, Keith realising he probably should have expanded on what he was going to say instead of giving him the time to reply  
“It was also incredibly brave”  
“You were the brave one. You got up on it’s back”  
“Only because you gave me the opening. Are you sure really alright? Your eyes are red”  
Pike’s bottom lip quivered, his hands coming up to his eyes between Keith’s   
“I... think I got some stuff in my eyes... I can’t see... they hurt to open them”  
“Let me look. Tell me if I hurt you”

Covered in ash it wasn’t surprising if Pike had gotten debris in his eyes. When Pike didn’t move his hands, Keith took him by the wrists, placing his hands on the Barbarian’s shoulders. Tilting Pike head back, he could see the bits of matter sticking to his eyelashes   
“I think you did too. We need to clean you up, but I don’t think I’ve got any water on me”  
“It’s fine... just leave it”  
“Pike...”  
“If the party knows... they’ll know how useless I am”  
“You’re not useless”  
“I am. I can’t wield dual swords like you. I don’t have magic like Block...”  
Keith cut Pike off before he could continue, he felt awkward enough holding Pike’s face now that he starting to cry  
“No. What you have is more courage than know what to do with. Seriously, you nearly gave me a heart attack when you tripped. I was terrified at the thought of something happening to you”  
“That makes one person... I’m so tired of this... I don’t know what else to do to prove I’m... I’m here”  
“You know what the others are like. They all get so caught up in everything else, they can barely take care of themselves. Look at me, I’m literally covered in this stuff that’s sticky as heck. I bet you know how to get it off”  
Pike sniffled a sound that sounded suspiciously like a laugh  
“A normal person would take a bath”  
“Right. A bath. How could I not think of taking a bath in the middle of this place? Let me get my rubber ducky...”  
“You’re an idiot”  
“That’s still up for deliberation. If anyone says anything about you not doing your best, you tell me. Because I know you are”  
Pike sniffled again. Keith liked to think he’d been trying his hardest not be drawn in by Lance due to his current condition. But how was he supposed to feel anything but worry for his team mate when Lance seemed so... hopeful that Keith’s words weren’t him messing with him. The smiling playing on the edge of Pike’s lips slipped again as he mumbled out  
“But they’re right... sometimes I think...”  
“The party would not be better without you. I know the party didn’t mention your death, I’ve only recently found out that Vala hadn’t told them. I’m positive none of them would be okay with having come so very close to losing your life, and them losing you. You are important... Now, you’ve got your ears and your tail. Everything else is still intact, isn’t it?”  
“I lost my head band...”  
Lance had, but Keith was somewhat paranoid the Weabloanian was simply playing dead until they all had their backs turned  
“I think we’ll have to take the loss on that one. We’ll have to get you a new one in the next village. Maybe something in red?”  
“Red’s your colour... Ow... fuck...”  
Starting to perk up as he gave Keith fashion advice, Pike scrunched his eyes up as he swore softly   
“Your eyes?”  
“Yeah”  
“Crying should help get some of that junk out. Block should be able to help too”  
“Block doesn’t like me anymore... Not since he and Meklavar both realised how much smarter they are”  
None of the pack knew Lance had died, he’d left them all in shock. Keith liked to think back in their reality they were all having a good hard look at their actions   
“Then that’s his loss. Personally I think we make a great team”  
“You’ve said that before. But you’ve been saying so many weird things since Gyro was hurt”  
“Maybe I’ve realised a thing or two. Gyro is like my brother. I think... I think I was so desperate to save him because before our pack, he was my family. I know I lost my cool over it, but he’s going to be okay... and maybe it’s time I start thinking more about what I want in my future...”  
“You... I... you don’t need to pretend you’re not in love with him”  
“I love him, but I think it’s in a different way that what you’re thinking. I also think it’s time to get out of here”  
“Weabloanian’s are territorial, but where there’s one, there’s usually more around. They would have been attracted by the sound”  
“Yeah. It’s definitely time to move. Keep your eyes closed, and hold on”

Pike spluttered as Keith moved the pair of them, the best he could offer was a piggyback thanks to the state of his armour. Sniffing him loudly, Keith drew his brow in confusion before Lance announced he smelt terrible. Making as if he was going to drop Pike, Pike scrambling to hold on, grumbling with no real anger as once he’d figured it out it was a small act payback. Carrying Pike over to where the others were waiting, Vala was the first on her feet, Gyro remaining squatting with a look on his face as if he was constipated  
“How is he?”  
“He’d got some of that acid ash stuff in his eyes. I was hoping Block could take a look?”  
Fixing Block firmly in his sights he didn’t allow his party member to squirm away from his responsibility, again, forgetting that Lance was controlling the party members in a way parallel to how he felt he’d been treated in real life  
“Sure, bud. Do you want to sit him down? Meklavar wants to check the worm for loot”  
“Pike mentioned there may be other worms in the area”  
“Well, if Pike says so, then it must be true. Let’s all listen to the one member of the party who managed to get himself hurt”

Pike whimpered against him, Keith ready to punch Gyro. Surely Shiro hadn’t been this horrible to Lance... fuck. Kuron. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Gyro was based on Kuron, not Shiro... He’d been at such a loss as to why Gyro was a douche. Shiro and Lance had their moments, but he had no idea how Kuron had treated Lance. Appallingly would be the assumption  
“Gyro, I think we need to talk. Pike, I’m not leaving you. I’m just going to talk to Gyro. His attitude towards you isn’t acceptable. Some might say he’s acting like a whole other person who only looks like Gyro. The Gyro I know was never this cold and dismissive”  
“People change, Thunder. I can’t believe the words coming out of your mouth right now”  
“You can’t believe it?! Pike is an integral party of our party! All of you have hurt him. How is that okay in any reality?! Block was supposed to be his best friend! Meklavar used to say Pike was like her big brother... Why can’t any of you see how much he pours out his soul to the pack?! I know I left, but that’s no excuse for abandoning your pack mate like this. Pike is the glue that holds this party together! I’m sick of this. I’m sick of you treating him like he’s not even here. Every time I needed Lance to back me up, he did. He was... he was my best friend and I let him down. I was so consumed with worry over you that I was blind to him struggling because I was so caught in my own stuff that I wasn’t looking. I thought he was alright, and now that... now that we could all lose Lance... I can’t... I refuse to take another loss”  
Spitting the words at Gyro, Keith slipped up. Swapping Pike for Lance, his upset at the whole situation falling off his tongue far too easily.

“Dark, stop”  
Kneeling beside Pike, Vala gazed up at him in worry. Pike had his hands over his ears, trembling as he kept his eyes tightly closed. Right... Pike was upset as it was   
“Pike...?”  
“I don’t want you to fight... not over me...”  
That’s why he was going to lead Gyro away... Quiznak  
“We’re not fighting. We’re having a sibling argument. I’m sorry, Pike”  
“It’s okay... Just... I don’t want the party to fight”  
“No more fighting. Block’s going to take a look at your eyes for you. Meklavar... if you’re going to get to work on that Weabloanian do it now. We can’t risk staying on the off chance another one appears”  
Meklavar gave a two fingered salute before heading off towards the worm. Gyro finally kept his mouth closed as he stalked off away from the party  
“Should I go talk to him?”  
Keith shook his head at Vala  
“No. He knows he’s in the wrong. Let him cool his head. Thanks for those arrows, they were just what I needed to get onto the back of that thing”  
Vala beamed at his praise. He supposed praising her was really praising Lance... He was going to have to make more of a conscience effort to remember that these weren’t really his pack, but the embodiment of how they’d all treated Lance. If he could make the party realise Lance’s worth, then maybe the game would come to an end and both he and Lance would be returned to reality. Keith almost wished he could return right now, he wanted to know if the real members of their team had finally wised up to how badly they’d treated Lance.

Half a varga later they were leaving the woods behind. Their losses amounting to Lance’s headband, and his two swords. For some illogical reason the Weabloanian had contained a fair amount of gold, Meklavar handing over a fair chunk to him so he could replace his broken swords in the next village. Block had joked that it was like an insurance payout over the damages. As for Pike his eyes would take about a week to heal, Keith volunteering himself to take care of Pike until they had. If Pike was with him he wouldn’t have to worry about being forced to sleep outside again. He’d have a warm bed, a warm bath and warm food. Three things he’d deserved all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark caring for Pike... ya’ll know we’re going to get handsy in the next chapter, right?!?


	8. Lust

Whether by Lance’s wishes, or by predetermined luck, the next town they reached was a river port bustling with traders from all over... whatever the game was called... Basically there were a whole heap of races, and Keith was actually feeling kind of enthused by the fact that Pike would be in his care the entire time. Gyro hadn’t made to talk to him, Block and Meklavar shooting the Paladin repeated glances as they’d walked in silence. Though he’d barely had a chance to wield his blades, Keith was looking forward to finding two new replacements, especially when Meklavar and Block started talking about magical enchantments that would provide improved something or other in battle. Pike had already agreed to come with him, Keith neglecting to tell him that his first purchase would be that headband he’d promised.

Negotiating prices for their room, Meklavar was a force to be reckoned with. Arguing the landlord down from 60gold for each of them to be roomed and fed dinner for the week, the man had met his match in Meklavar, forced to room then all for 40, including warm baths on top of dinner. Keith had thought that those thoughts of things would be included in the price, as it would have been at a hotel. He’d always hated diplomatic meetings that’d meant staying on some foreign planet for the night, the lavishness somewhat wasted on him. Keith preferred practicality and seemed far more practical to set a price that included bathing rather than charging guests extra on top of sky high room rates. The view was the only real thing the inn had going for it. It’s weathered exterior and dark interior lacked any particular charms. Lance would have found all the pluses had he been able to open his eyes. Block had done the best he could, lessening the effects of the acid into something more like conjunctivitis without being contagious. Still, Pike was blind and there were stairs to negotiate up and down each time the wanted to go, or leave, their rooms. He was bunking in with Pike, Meklavar suspiciously nice as she offered them first chance at the baths, which Keith found to mean two baths in a small room as barren and bleak feeling as Lance’s quarters upon Red. Left by the party, the pair of them were now standing in the space, both baths filled with steaming water that Keith found himself itching to get into. Anything to get the blood and junk off his skin would be a godsend.

Standing apart from him, Pike’s tail flicked back and forth as he hugged himself. Did Pike want him to stay? Or did Pike want him to go? He wasn’t sure on the etiquette of bathing near someone he’d apparently been sleeping with, when he had no memory of sleeping with said person  
“We’re in baths...”  
They weren’t “in baths”, what was he saying? Technically they were in the bath room? Or the rooms where the baths were... Of course they weren’t actually in the baths... Why was he losing his cool now?!   
“I can smell the soap”  
“Ah. Yeah. The... um... water looks pretty soapy... I’m going to take a bath. Do you want to take a bath? You don’t need to take a bath with me. I mean... there’s two baths. Two perfectly good, single standing baths...”  
“Dark, you’re babbling”  
Keith scratched the back of his head, finding his hair a matted mess  
“I... um... yeah. Sorry. I don’t know what to do. Do you... um... can you...?”  
“I can get undressed. I just might need a little help with getting in and out”  
“Right... so, you get undressed and I’ll wait until you’re done”  
“Why?”  
Was the room hot? The room felt hotter... Keith felt hotter. His face uncomfortably hot... Why was it so hot? It had to be the hit water? The steam? Yeah. It was the steam that was making his face so hot  
“I... I’m...”  
“You’ve seen me naked before. It’s silly to waste the warm water”

Keith’s face grew even hotter. Pike naked... Pike naked... in a bath... with everything on display... and... and everything on display  
“Dark... are you still there?”   
Keith hadn’t realised enough time had passed for Pike to be asking if he was still there or not   
“Still here. Getting undressed”  
Why were words being so quiznakking hard to operate?  
“Oh... okay. I should do that too”

Having never had to dress himself, let alone undress, the leathers his character wore tried his patience. He started with his boots, finding the Weabloanian acid had eaten away around the toe. He’d thought his feet felt cold, and what kind of character designer fails to give the character socks?! When he finally got his leather leggings down around his ankles, he was in for a second shock when he realised he wasn’t wearing underwear either. Sure, he’d had to pee, but he hadn’t really given much thought to it. He’d spent the better part of the last 19? odd years peeing, he didn’t need to think when he peed... but underwear would have been appreciated. He knew Pike couldn’t see him as he stood their stupidly with the dead furry thing still around his waist.

The top half of Keith’s armour was as complicated as the bottom. He’d kept the dead thing around his waist, and now he had to worry about the dead thing over his shoulders. He had no idea what to make of all the leather, especially when it felt more like some weird kink trying to get the stuff off his already sticky body. He was making progress when Pike let out a cry, which was followed by a splash as the cat-man wound up falling into the bath. Flailing around, Pike came up gasping for air, Keith trying to not to laugh as Pike hissed and struck the water as if it was an enemy   
“You okay?”  
His voice quivered with his suppressed laughter  
“Fantastic. I totally meant to trip and fall in the bath...”  
“Then you succeeded. I’m not sure hitting it managed to accomplish anything”  
“I’ll hit you...”  
Grumbling without any edge in his voice, Pike’s ears flattened back against his head  
“You didn’t hurt yourself did you?”  
“Only my stupid pride. What good is a blind cat?! I’m useless”  
“At least you’re not stuck in your armour”  
Pike heft a sigh in his direction   
“A normal person would undo the straps before trying to get out of the armour”  
“There isn’t any?”  
Pike sighed again  
“Did you try looking on the sides?”  
“No. I thought I’d dislocate my shoulder and see how far that got me”  
“Whatever. You don’t have to get snappy at me”  
“Who says I’m getting snappy?”  
“You are. If you’re that uncomfortable then why don’t you leave? Heaven forbid you make yourself stay”  
“I’m staying. I’m just...”  
“You don’t have to stay out of pity. I’d rather you leave if you are”

Growing annoyed, Keith felt along the edge of his armour, finding both sides did indeed have straps. They were so finely crafted that they felt smooth to the touch  
“Dark?”  
Pike sounded as if he thought Keith was actually going to leave him. His poor companion was so anxious that Keith made an admittance just to see him smile   
“I found the straps”  
Beaming as he looked to where he thought Keith was, Keith’s heart gave a funny beat. With how timid Pike looked, he almost looked cute  
“I knew you could do it”  
“Why do they make these straps so seamless?”  
“Probably so you don’t get hurt in battle by catching yourself on them. You didn’t get hurt, did you?”  
“Nah. I got some stuff in my eyes but not as badly as you did... Though I do have to buy a new set of blades”  
“I’m sorry. I know how much a Barbarian relies on his blades”  
Keith felt as if he were on eggshells. Pike kept apologising needlessly and blaming himself over things beyond his control... but that was Lance all over. All he cared about was the happiness of others  
“It’s fine. If it means you’re alive and you’re safe, I can lose a couple of blades”

Pike gaped at him, before lowering his head  
“You’re being too nice again”  
“Am I?”  
“Yeah... it’s... I mean, you’ve always been nice. I guess I got used to how things changed when you left on your quest to find your mum”  
“Things are a lot different to how I remember them”  
For starters he was now stuck in game. That and Lance was controlling everything without even knowing it  
“It... it got really rough. Gyro got really mad, as if I was to blame for you leaving. Vala was dating a pirate... I told the team not to trust him... but they still.... I just don’t get why you’re being so nice”  
“Because you’re a good person. I’m trying to treat you with the respect you deserve”  
“I don’t deserve anything”

There may have been two baths, but Keith’s mind was made up by that sentence. Pike needed to talk, and he needed to know what was going on in his head if he was ever going to get Lance out of here. Removing his last shed of modesty, Keith crosses quickly to the bath Lance was in, stepping into to the warm water  
“What are you doing?!”  
“Relax, it’s easier to talk like this”  
Drawing his knees up to make space, Pike rested his chin in the valley between them. Keith groaning as he sank down into the heavenly hot water  
“I... suppose so”  
“This way I can help you get that stuff out your hair too”  
Cocking his head, Pike frowned  
“What am I supposed to do? I can’t help you”  
“You can talk to me. Tell me about Gyro. He isn’t the man I remember him being”  
Pike snorted  
“I’m not getting in the middle of a lovers quarrel”  
Keith shook his head before realising that particular gesture was unless  
“You wouldn’t be. Recently I came to understand what I feel for him. He wasn’t himself while I was gone, or at least that’s what you said, and I realised we’re brothers. I see him as my brother. I think it’s... I think it’s because we both lost someone that we needed each other as much as we did”  
“But...”  
“No. No buts... This is what I’ve decided for myself. What I want to hear is more about you”  
“I’m not that interesting... and if he’s going to be your brother, then I shouldn’t be... I shouldn’t be bad mouthing your brother. I don’t want the team to fight... I don’t... I don’t like people yelling”  
“Did Gyro yell at you?”  
Keith took Pike’s silence to mean “yes” and frequently from how tightly he was now balling himself up   
“Will you tell me if I promise to keep it to myself?”  
“I don’t want to change the way you see him”  
“That’s for me to decide. You’ve been holding onto these emotions for a long time, haven’t you?”

Pike’s bottom lip quivered, Keith catching it before Pike hid his face against his knees  
“Pike, you’re safe with me. I’m not going to get up and abandon you. I’m not going to be mad that you have feelings or that you think you can’t tell me. I don’t want to loose my friend because he thinks I don’t care”  
“I don’t know why you would... the whole party... none of them want me around”  
“I’m part of this party. And I want you around. I was serious, you know, when I saw you fall... Did you know Barbarian’s gain strength in battle? When we focus all our thoughts onto one pinpoint thing, we become stronger. All I could think about was killing that worm so you didn’t get hurt”  
“If I was better, you wouldn’t have had to...”  
“What if our roles were reversed? What if the worm had been chasing after me?”  
“Then... my incompetence would have got you hurt...”  
“No. You would have done the same as I did for me. You used to be so... so happy. I miss seeing you smiling”  
“I’m sorry”  
“You don’t need to be sorry. I need to be sorry. For letting you down when you needed a friend. You mean a lot to me”  
“I don’t mean a lot to me”

Sloshing water of the side, Keith awkward scooched down the bath to draw La-Pike up against him. The bath really wasn’t made for two people, especially not someone Barbarian sized. Pike stiffened in his hold  
“Let it out. Tell me what happened”  
“It’s stupid. I’m stupid”  
“I’m not going to deny you have your moments, but I want to know what Gyro did to you”  
“He... didn’t like my very much”  
With everything happening, they hadn’t talked about Shiro being Kuron. Not in the proper way they should have. Keith was avoiding the subject like the plague back in the real world. He knew he was overly sensitive when it came to Shiro after nearly losing forever, and not realising his brother had actually died while inside Black  
“Did he hit you? Did he hurt you?”  
Pike shook his head, his voice dropping to an agonised whisper  
“No... but he was so mad at me... I think he would have kicked me out the party if he could have. It didn’t matter how much I trained or practiced... it didn’t matter how much I tried to do better, it was never good enough. I know it’s all words, but... I wish he’d hit me instead. I wish he’d beat the living shit out of me if that’d make him feel better. I tried and everything still went wrong... I lost my best friend... and now you’re acting weird and I don’t know why I feel so sad”

Lance looked up to Shiro. They all did. It couldn’t be helped when Shiro was the highest ranking of them, and the oldest human aboard the castle. He’d looked up to Shiro enough that the term “Space Dad” had come into play. Keith knew very well how words could cut deeper than being physically hurt. How you’d play them over and over in your mind as you tried to figure out how things had turned out the way they had  
“I’m sorry that happened”  
“You didn’t do it”  
“No, but I left”  
Not having his mother, or answers over her, has always left a gaping hole in his heart. Over and over he’d been told that “it wasn’t surprising she’d leave someone like you”. Kids could be cruel. People could be cruel. He’d been filled with so much anger towards her over her leaving and the death of his father. He’d been so lonely for so long by the time Shiro came into his life, unable to believe that the man would truly offer friendship to someone like him. Finding out Shiro had been sick had felt as if everything between them had been a lie  
“You needed to find your mum. And you did... and I’m happy for you...”

The position in the bathtub wasn’t working for Keith. Rubbing Pike’s upper arms, Pike shivered at his touch. Goosebumps across his caramel flesh above the water line  
“Cold?”  
“My back is...”  
“Turn around for me. Then we can both sit properly”  
Pike sniffled with a small shake of his head   
“I... I’ll get in the other bath”  
Having found it easier than he thought he would to be sitting in the same bath as Pike naked, Keith didn’t see what the big deal was. If Pike turned around, then they could both slide back down until the water was up to their shoulders, rather than sitting their with most of their backs exposed  
“Stay in this one. We haven’t finished talking”  
“I don’t want to talk anymore”  
“Pike”  
“I’m talking too much. I don’t want to talk about me. You’re constantly picking me up. I don’t like it”  
“Alright. I won’t pick you up again”  
“That’s not what I meant. I mean... You’re acting so odd. You’re usually so... I mean, you say you were thinking about keeping me safe, but normally you’re so focused on the battle itself. So confident when you’re on a quest, or slaying a beast. If anyone is the courage of this group, it’s you. You’ve always had that courage in you. You worked hard. I can tell by your hands. You’re a fighter Dark... but I don’t think I have much fight left in me. I don’t want to bring you down. I want to see you be who you are. I want to be friends with you. I want to... I want to be able to help you... even if it’s in some small way”  
The sincerity was too much. Especially too much for Keith to know where to begin. His face felt warm as he hid it against Pike’s wet hair  
“Pike, I’m not... I’m not those things”  
“You are to me... I wanted to be more like you”  
“I think you’re fine the way you are. You’re just having a hard time and the party hasn’t seen what you’ve been going through. You told me more than once that’s it’s okay not to be okay”  
“There’s not being okay, and then there’s being a burden to the party”  
“You’re not a burden. Now turn around so we can both fit better in here”

With Pike laying up against his chest, Keith was glad he couldn’t see his face. He hadn’t exactly thought things through. His friends arse was right up against his junk. Pike’s warm body had melted against his, the cat-man soft and smooth beneath his hands. Was this what lovers did? Lay in each other’s arms as the weight of the world lifted from their shoulders? Keith didn’t want to admit his heart was racing, nor did he want to admit that holding Pike felt so... nice. Pike wasn’t even doing anything, other than laying there with his hands over Keith’s  
“Dark... this isn’t getting us washed”  
“No... no, it’s not... can you reach the soap?”  
“Mmm, yeah, if I stretch. The table’s close enough”  
Pike leaned forward and Keith very nearly moaned as the stimulation  
“Let go of my waist for a moment”  
Keith was screwed as he did. Pike’s arse was far too attractive for his poor heart... doubly so when his mind reminded him that Dark had been sleeping with Pike. Stretched out before him, Pike’s arse and thighs... His brain was short circuiting. He knew how a rut felt. He knew exactly the kind of things his mind supplied him with through them, but... damn if he didn’t want to bury himself in Pike when he looked so damn inviting. Oblivious to his internal struggles, Pike retrieved the soap, his arse rubbing about Keith’s unwanted semi as he sat back against him. But this... this was Pike... this wasn’t Lance... Keith didn’t know what he was supposed to do, biting his lip when Pike rubbed back against him, trying to start washing himself as Keith’s hands found their way to his party members slim hips   
“Dark?”  
“Hmm?”  
“We can do it, you know...”  
“I... what... I...”  
Grinding back against him, Keith couldn’t stop the moan that escaped   
“Stop that...”  
“Why? You seem in the mood”  
“That’s because you stuck your arse in my face”  
“So you like my arse?”

He... what... huh? Keith was only mostly human. He cared for Lance. He cared for all of his pack... Was it because he was in Lance’s head that he was struggling to keep his cool? And why was he blushing so quiznakking hard?! If his alpha was present, he knew he’d stand no chance to resist. The stupid beast had decided that Lance was the one for him... it’d kind of liked Lance more than the others before he found he was an omega. But wouldn’t this be taking advantage of the situation? He’d never done... that before. Outside of wet dreams, and his fist during ruts... he should be getting out the bath... Oh... fuck... Pike was wriggling against him again, making a show of washing his arm  
“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to. I don’t want to if you don’t...“  
His dick did. That much was obvious. The traitorous appendage now hard against Lance’s arse... Pike’s arse...  
“I... you... we can... um... kiss?”  
Fuck. He was flustered as fuck... Since when was kissing a question? Was it a question? Pike was right, he was far better at stabbing things. Wait. No. No thinking of stabbing... Shit...   
“A kiss for my knight in shining armour?”  
Keith tilted his head. The thought mechanism in his brain causing him to dumbly blurt out   
“I’m naked in a bath”  
Pike had the nerve to chuckle at him. Dropping the soap as he turned in the bath, sloshing water everywhere as he did. Leaning in, Pike didn’t hesitate as he pressed lips to Keith’s. The kiss simple and sweet, Keith finding his mouth moving as Pike’s did. This was... this was... wow. His brain breaking completely. Every bit of him focused on the kiss... because... wow... just... wow...

Breaking the kiss after several long moments, Pike was staring at him with hooded eyes. Keith finding his hands coming up to cup him by the cheeks as he took the initiative, his kiss far harder than intended as he growled into Pike’s mouth. Sliding his hands down Keith’s side, Keith pushed forward, sliding them both back in the bath as he followed some kind of instinct. Pike laughing into the kiss as his back met the side of the tub  
“Wanna do it?”  
Nodding, Keith had no idea what came next, letting Pike push him back as he climbed into his lap, trapping both their erections between them. What was he supposed to do with his hands? Arse... Pike’s arse? Moving his hands to Pike’s arse, Keith at least now knew where he wanted his hands to be... Pike really had a good arse... it felt good in his hands. Kind of firm and kind of jiggly, and great for gripping  
“Want me to prep myself?”  
“I’ll.. do it”

As Pike went about mouthing as his neck, Keith faced his next crisis of one finger or two. He’d had to find the courage to start rubbing at Pike’s opening, Pike moaning up as storm as Keith teased the taunt muscle, his pointer finger barely pushing into the centre. He didn’t want to hurt Pike, nor did he want to admit it may have been safer if Pike had prepped himself, he wanted to do good for his lover, and by his lover. Mentally calling Pike his lover made something inside him stupidly giddy, almost high off the sensations he was experiencing. Impatient with his indecision, Pike pushed back against his finger, moaning as the digit was gripped tightly, drawn into his wet heat. Taking a few shaky breaths, Pike mewed as rose, then sank back down, Keith didn’t dare move in case Pike was uncomfortable though Pike moving down answer what he was supposed to do now that he had a finger inside Pike. He was supposed to move his finger? He had to... or Lance would be hurt.

Clumsily, Keith got a hint. Wrapping his hand around their erections Pike pumped them both as Keith tried to grow bolder. Taking the hint, Keith moved to slide two fingers inside Pike, not quite as careful now that he stretch him better. Twisting his hand, Pike made the sexiest sound Keith had ever heard. Letting his head loll back, Pike’s chest heaved, pretty light lips open as he panted, Keith panting through his nose in a way he was sure was no where near sexy. Everything was feeling too good, his toes curling as the fire in his blood grew. The slipperiness of the soapy water. Pike’s hand as he toyed with him. The way he felt when he looked at Pike’d. He wanted to enjoy it all... and they weren’t getting there was enough in the bath  
“Up...”

Pike released them, then scrambled to grab onto him as Keith slipped his fingers free. Hefting Pike up, Pike wrapped his legs around Keith’s waist, lips finding the Barbarian’s as Keith carried them from the bath. Almost falling over himself, Dark slammed Pike up against the inn wall, his hands gripping and parting Pike’s glorious arse as Keith lined himself up, hissing when he slipped the first time  
“Hurry up...”  
Growling, Keith silenced Pike with a kiss, Pike smart enough to keep his legs wrapped around his waist as Keith lined himself up, nudging his way carefully in to breech his lover. Fuck... fuck... he wanted to come already... shit... Pike was so fucking hot around him. So damn tight... breaking the kiss, he thrust up the harshly as his patience snapped, Pike letting out a lewd cry as he did. Fuck... fuuuck... he was going to come...  
“Fuck, Dark... move... move, I’m not going to last”  
“Gimme... a tick...”  
“Don’t go slow...”

Not going slow didn’t help matters, Keith coming hard with his fifth thrust into Pike. He couldn’t help it. He felt so good around him... and this... he wasn’t exactly experienced with this... Dark seemed like an experienced lover, but Keith had literally no idea what to do when it came fingering, let alone progressing to fingering with his dick... Something someone with brain power might call sex. Riding Pike through his orgasm, Pike came across his chest with a loud whine, collapsing against him as they both panted. Letting his head rest against Pike’s chest, he nuzzled the spot affectionately. He’d done it... he’d done the sex... had the sex... he’d done Lance... Pike... licking his dry lips, fatigue was setting in now that the feeling of release was ebbing   
“Are... you okay?”  
“Mhmm...”  
Keith wanted to ask if he’d been any good but dreaded the answer. Carefully slipping out of Lance, he winced at the cooling cum across his spent dick  
“Can you walk?”  
“Nope”

Carrying Pike to the second bath, as there wasn’t a whole lot of water left in the first, the water was just as warm as the first bath had been when he’d gotten in. Pike automatically curling up against his chest as he started to purr softly   
“Sleepy?”  
“Mhmm...”  
“Me too”  
Pike yawned, nosing at Keith’s chest as he did  
“We need to wash u-u-up... then head to bed”  
“Alright...”  
“Lemme wash your hair”  
“Nah, you seem pretty comfortable where you are”  
“Am...”  
Quiznak... Pike was being too cute. Keith feeling too tired to be embarrassed, or mentally argumentative over the fact he was finding Pike all kinds of cute. He didn’t know why, but Pike felt nice like this. Like he was safe in Keith’s arms and he knew it. If only Lance could feel this safe with him.

Pike had fallen asleep by the time Keith had gathered enough energy to climb out the bath with sleeping cat-man. Letting him sleep, Keith had washed both of them, marvelling silently over how Pike’s skin felt beneath his hands. Dark’s hands were calloused and rough. Nails short and practical. Swords-mans hands. Muscles made from years of combat, not machines. Lance thought too much of him. He wasn’t some kind of courageous leader. Lance had no reason to look up to him. He definitely wasn’t winning any awards for intelligence. The towels were in the table, where the soap had been. He couldn’t hold Pike and pick the towels up. He couldn’t hold Pike and retrieve his armour either... or Pike’s clothes. He didn’t want to wake Pike, but he hadn’t left himself any options... Turning as he surveyed the room, Keith’s only choice was to sit Pike on the edge of the tub. Sleepily, Pike went to open his eyes, whining softly as he did  
“Pike, I know you don’t want to wake up, but I need you to sit here for me, unless you want to make the run for our room naked”  
“My eyes hurt”  
“That’s because you got acid in them”  
“Oh... I’m sleepy”  
“And I promise you can go to sleep in a moment. I need you to keep still so I can get our towels”  
“Why do we need towels?”  
“Because we’re naked”  
“Oh... Did we go to bed?”  
Pike went to flop backwards, Keith grabbing him by the arms so he did  
“No. We had a bath and you fell asleep. We need the towels so we can return to our room”  
“So I can’t go back to sleep?”  
“Not yet”  
“Fuck”  
“Pretty much”  
With a sigh Pike started standing   
“What are you doing now?”  
“You said we had to go?”  
“You’re asleep on you feet”  
“No I’m not, I’m on the edge of the bath?”  
Keith dropped his head. He couldn’t deal with this. Lance wasn’t supposed to be... cute. He was loud and annoying... in good ways. But cute... he was walking in uncharted territory calling Pike cute   
“Just stay there”

Gathering their clothes and the towels, getting Pike to their room and into bed was an ordeal. Swaying on his feet, Pike seemed to either be feeling him up, or trying not to fall down and Keith didn’t know which. As the door clicked softly behind them, the towel around Keith’s waist fell to the floor with the help of a handsy cat-man. Getting Pike onto the bed, Pike then wanted to cuddle him. Wrapping his arms around Keith as Keith tried to put their armour somewhere that wasn’t the floor... it ended up on the floor because apparently Pike decided he didn’t want to let him go long enough to walk over to dresser in the corner of their rented room. Having twisted away, Keith jumped as he felt lips against his dick, the armour falling in shock at Pike’s nerve. Mewing around his soon not to be flaccid penis, Pike lessened his hold to settling on having his hands on Keith’s hips  
“Uh... Pike?”  
“Mmm?”  
“I thought you were sleepy”  
“Mmm-I amm...”  
“Then what are you doing?”  
“Wanna do it again and sleep”  
“Huh?”  
Thinking humming was a reply, Pike started to bob his head, objection dying on Keith’s lips. No. Wait. They were going to sleep. He wanted to sleep... and he wanted this too because quiznak did Pike had technique   
“Piiiike... you’re tired. We should sleep”  
Pulling back, a string of saliva ran from Keith’s erection to Pike’s lips. Fuck that was hot. Pike was parading in and trampling over all his goodwill with his ridiculous charms  
“If you don’t want to do it, why are we sharing a bed?”  
Keith felt vaguely insulted that Pike would think the only reason they’d be sharing a bed was for sex  
“Because I want to take care of you...”  
“Then come to bed already... I wanna come and fall asleep, felt good earlier”  
“You literally said we were only sharing a bed because you thought I expected sex from you”  
“I forgot that you’ve... that you’re trying... I’m not used to people not being shitty...”  
Pike pouted, Keith feeling like he was being somehow crappy by trying to care in the wrong? way  
“I didn’t bring you bed so you’d feel like you had to sleep with me. I don’t want to do it, if it’s not what you want to do”  
“I don’t wanna do it if it’s not what you want either...”  
“Then what do you want to do?”  
“I wanna sleep against you... I don’t want to sleep outside”  
“Then move so I can get in”

Pike climbed backwards onto the bed, Keith confused as the male climbed over to grab the headboard. With his face down and his hips up, he looked as if he was presenting himself before his alpha. Pike’s tail was flicking lightly from side to side  
“Pike?”  
“I’m horny”  
He needed a guidebook to this cat. Pike was literally too hard to keep up with. They’d been talking in the bath, then they had sex, then he’d fallen asleep, and now he was sleepy and horny?  
“I thought you were sleepy?”  
“I’m horny and sleepy”  
Keith’s brain couldn’t keep up. If Lance could pick one mood, then that’d be great  
“What do you want from me?”  
“I want to feel you, then I want to sleep”  
“I don’t want to hurt you”  
“You won’t. It’ll help both of us sleep better... I know it’ll help me sleep better”

He really needed to stop following his dick. Crawling across the bed, Keith settled behind Pike. Placing his hands on the smaller man’s arse, Pike mewed as Keith thumbed at his slightly loose opening. Curious and now able to see everything, Keith let his thumb breach his lover, a shudder running through Pike as his breath caught  
“Oh... shit...”  
“Pike?”  
“Feels good...”  
Pike’s tail flicked again. Keith stretching Lance with his thumb as he pushed down   
“Dark... I don’t need all the prep”  
“Maybe I want to”  
It was hypnotic to watch. The way the muscle would clench and flutter. The way is arse glistened from the cum Keith hadn’t thought to clean out completely. He kind of wanted to taste Pike on his tongue, but he also really wanted to do it again... He should have waited until they were in bed like this, where he could Pike properly. Pike’s poor back was scrapped from the wall render, Keith feeling barbaric at the thought of how hard he’d been trying to fuck Pike. Moving his hands from Pike’s arse, he slid them up along Lance’s back, as he shifted himself to cage the smaller male in. Letting his dick rub against the small of Pike’s back, Keith nosed at Pike’s exposed nape. It really was as if Pike was trying to present himself. Running his tongue across the soft skin he wished he could mark, Pike let out a keen   
“Pike?”  
“Not my nape”  
Licking the spot again, Keith lowered his mouth to mouth at the area. The noise Lance gave much more appealing as his hands tightened their hold around the wood of the bed head  
“Sensitive?”  
“Mmm... stop...”  
“And if I don’t?”  
Nipping lightly on the offered nape, Pike dropped beneath him. Chest flat to the bed as he pushed his arse back   
“Dark... please...”  
“Please, what?”  
“Fuck me...”  
“But I’m enjoying myself...”   
He didn’t need his alpha to imagine sinking his teeth right in. Claiming Pike as his  
“I... that spot... too much... too intimate”  
Though aroused far too much, Keith didn’t want to abuse Pike’s trust when he said the spot was too intimate. Maybe it was a racial trait of being part cat that he was stepping on unknowingly. Pressing a kiss to the teasing patch of skin, Keith rutted up against his lover  
“Ready?”  
“Yes...”

Far more gracefully than the first time, Keith inched his way into Pike. Pike had already dissolved into chanting his name softly after the tip of his erection sank in. There was some resistance, but not like the first time. Nor was their the lubrication of the soapy water. Bottoming out, Keith stared at himself buried too the root. Pike fitted around him so well. He could feel the velvety warmth rippling around him, trying to draw him in deeper inside   
“Pike?”  
“Gimme a moment... you’re so fucking big”  
Keith’s ego swelled. Rutting up against Pike, Pike ground against him  
“Okay, okay... move... fuck... I swear you’re in my stomach”  
Snorting, Keith slid back, then thrust in hard, enjoying the gasp Pike let out as his whole body jolted. This was good. He didn’t feel ready to blow his load before even making it inside Pike. Perhaps part of having his alpha in his ear for so long, he wanted to fill Pike with every drop of his seed.

Keeping Pike caged, Keith didn’t hold back. One hand on Pike’s stomach as the other held his hip firmly. The bed beneath them sounded ready to break, but Keith’s body wasn’t ready to let go just yet. He felt as if he’d been hit with a battle high. He felt as if Pike was his battle, his senses heightened. Each jump of Pike’s muscles he could feel. Each lewd squelch of spent cum between the slapping of wet skin, he could hear. His heart was pounding, sweat dampened his brow, but he wanted more of Pike. Taking him mercilessly from behind wasn’t enough. Sliding his hand of Pike’s taunt belly, Keith pulled him up by the hips. Forcing him into his lap as he continued to thrust. Reaching his hand back, Pike gripped him by the hair, twisting to kissing him as Keith moved his hips, practically fucking Pike on himself. He looked so fucking good like this. His kisses the sweetest thing Keith had ever tasted. Breaking the hungry chain of kisses, Pike panted in his mouth   
“Gonna come...”  
“That’s right you come for me”  
Letting out a stuttered groan, Pike came up his stomach beautifully. Eyelashes fluttering as he did. He Pike always been this pretty? Surely his eyelashes surely hadn’t been always as long as they were. Clenching around him, Keith’s orgasm hit, the Barbarian burying himself as deep as he could, one hand going straight to Pike’s belly where the muscles were jumping beneath his skin. Letting his head loll back, Pike’s dick shot out a smaller spurt, most running down the glistening member, his muscles contracting again. Shit... He felt like he’d come more than he’d ever come before. Ruts hadn’t prepared him for the feeling of a willing sexual partner. A warm and comfortable body against him that felt right to hold. Panting, he sank his teeth into Pike’s shoulder, causing Pike to shudder. The burst of fixated energy faded too fast, Keith feeling nothing but a sleepy satisfaction as he found himself pulling Pike down with him, still rutting up against his firm arse a he did. Lapping at the wound he’d caused, Pike snuggled up against him, his hand coming to rest on Keith’s as he settled down to sleep. Catching the blanket at the end of the bed with his toes, Keith pulled it up before covering them both with it. As his urge to thrust wore off, Keith went to slide out his lover, Pike pressing his arse firmly back   
“Don’t...”  
“You sure?”  
“Mmm... this feels so nice”  
Following up with a purr, Keith shifted his hips into a more comfortable position for his sleepy lover. Neither of them thinking of cleaning up, and both happily sated as they spooned. For a moment the thought flickered through his mind that there was something or someone he should talk to about this, but it was gone before he could chase the name. He didn’t think Pike could be his, but there he was, Darkstorm Thunderspear cocooned around his lover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuun...
> 
> Sorry for the wait guys... I was on minecraft again. I am terrible. I blame the trading pigs and a lack of self control. Where I know the consequences of my actions, what will be the fall out of Keith’s?


	9. Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive the lateness... I was so zonked I slept so freakin hard yesterday that I didn’t get this out in time.

Dark woke for supper, delivered by Block who cast a nervous glance towards where Pike was still sleeping. With the blankets pulled to his shoulders, so that only his ears were visible from where they stood, the fellinwere was rather cute. Sending his party member to fetch a bowl of fresh water, soap and a cloth, Block returned with the requested items, as well as an item sent by Vala to assist with healing Pike’s eyes. Dark had no idea what he’d been thinking engaging a Weabloanian worm like that, not when his foolish actions had cost him both his greatswords. With no need to wake Pike, Dark administer the eye tincture from the brown glass bottle. Three drops of blue liquid in each eye, causing the fellinwere to flinch and whimper. “If it hurts, it means it’s working”, that was what his father would say as he cleaned his wounds after scraps with the other children. Though his father and himself lived within the desert east of the closest clan, Dark remembered those days with fondness. His father was the one who provided the blade for 7th birthday, the day all children of the bloodline were sent for their first kill. His kill had been a small rabbit, the blasted creature annoyingly agile. Returning with his rabbit before his father, very vaguely could he remember the look of relieved pride on his face. By the time he was 16, his father had passed. He’d been shunned by his clan, and taken his first kill into adult hood. The Durmasker Rat fur still worn around his waist as proof of his age, and skill to those in the know. His dragon leathers earned the hard way, now shunned by most dragon born beasts due to the origin of his leather. We’re they to examine the leather, they’d have found the beast it came from deceased from a clean and clear blow. He wasn’t one of those who sought to trap dragons then chop them to pieces for their magical properties. He believed in a quick humane kill, so he was foundering over how the Weabloanian had taken so long to be slain.

Mumbling softly, Pike brought his curved hand to his eyes, attention to wipe at the magical solution. Capturing his companions wrist, Pike’s brow scrunched in confusion   
“Go back to sleep, it is medicinal magic for your eyes”  
“Hurts”  
“That means it’s working. Now sleep, we shall sup after you’ve slept”  
“Come back to bed”  
“Aren’t we the demanding little one? You’ve been unfairly sweet of late, it makes not ravishing you that much harder”  
Fellinweres were well known for their playful personality. They were also excellent spies, locksmiths, and some of the most nimble in battle. They were also incredibly flexible, and often quite shy of breeding, despite how vocal they became. Pike had blushed so hard the first time he’d offered Dark his body. Gyro was missing from their team, and due to his constitution he was no longer able to sleep without sex. The foolish and outdated practice plagued all Barbarian’s. Three days in, Pike had come to him. He reassured him that there was no need for feelings for his heart belonged to another, as he thought Dark’s also did. It suited Dark well. They were incredibly sexually compatible, Pike sometimes as insatiable as he was, and having taken him as partner Pike also received that touch of human warmth. Now Pike lay in his bed, as his lover alone. This mystery love held, replaced by him. Dark didn’t want to be the second on Pike’s mind, he’d have to get the truth from Pike, his tongue looser after sex. For now he’d clean them both, then set upon his armour. 

Pike slept until morning, barely coherent enough to choke down bread and water around the middle of the night. Sleeping well, Dark a little after dawn, late by his usual schedule. Today he’d gather the party and go over their location on the map, but as he was in no hurry, and no decision would be reached without Pike’s input, he contented himself with watching Pike sleep on. As Pike finally woke, he was treated to a moment of his big blue eyes, before they were closed in pain. His thumb coming up to brush away the gathered gunk   
“How did you sleep?”  
“Well... like really well”  
There was something almost otherworldly about the way Pike used his words. Something somewhat entrancing. Rolling over to cage his party member, Dark kissed him deeply, Pike whining softly as he rolled onto his back. Spurred on, Dark nipped at his lips as his hands went to Pike’s hips  
“I want you”

The sex was lazy and slow. Pike’s body beneath him as he fell apart for him. Legs wrapped around his waist, arms slung over his shoulders as he lover mewed. Each thrust drawn slowly. He’d prefer to take Pike as hard and as fast as he could, to let his Barbarian strength flare, yet that morning it struck him he wanted to try something slower and more intimate than a good hard fuck. Bringing Pike to orgasm, he let himself go for the last dozen thrusts, coming hard and deep inside his lover with a growl, before carefully letting himself drop to barely being supported above not crushing Pike. Slow kisses were shared, Pike purring as he slipped from him to move to cuddling with a leg and arm wrapped around the fellinwere’s body. Grinning like the cat that’d eaten the cream, Pike turned his head to face him  
“Good morning to you too”  
Kissing Pike’s lips, Dark found himself smiling into the kiss  
“Good morning. How do you feel?”  
“Like my legs might just fall out of their sockets if you keep doing that”  
Rubbing lightly at Pike’s hip, it was weird things like that wording that made him feel special to witness  
“Then it is a good thing we have a busy day planned ahead”  
“We do?”  
“Indeed. I need to purchase new weaponry”  
“Ah... so you have a busy day”  
“No, we both do”  
Nuzzling into Pike’s face, Pike shook his head   
“You have a busy day, I’ll only get in the way if you have to watch a blind cat as well as negotiate the markets. I’m onto you, let out a little steam before seeing all those people”  
People weren’t his favourite thing, much less large crowds of them  
“Can’t a man thank you for a good nights sleep?”  
“Hmmm... I suppose. But I think you should seriously reconsider taking me to the markets with you. I’ll only get in the way”  
“You won’t. We should set out soon though. If I need to place an order for new blades the sooner the better”  
“You just love stabbing things don’t you?”  
“Mmm... I love stabbing one thing repeatedly”  
Nipping at Pike’s lip again, Dark let his hand roam further south, Pike letting out a small gasp as he fisted his limp dick  
“Dark...”  
“Ready for round two?”  
“Not if you want me to walk around with you today”  
“That’s a shame... because I want both”  
“You’re insufferable. You know that, right?”  
“When I have a fellinwere beneath me this pretty, what can I say?”  
Pike scrunched his brow up   
“What did you call me?”  
“A fellinwere... that’s your race?”  
“You don’t usually call me by my race. Are you okay?”  
“I’m perfectly fine... in fact, we’re both about to feel a whole lot better”

Dark had to drag Pike out of their bed after their second round. Pike looking every bit as deliciously fucked as he could. Cleaning up his lover, he sucked a dark hickey on both of Pike’s thighs, marking him as his. With Gyro, he could barely remember the feel. With Pike, he didn’t want to forget the feel. Helping Pike dress, it stroked his ego to have him relying on him as much as he did. Never did Dark think he’d fall for a fellinwere. His clan would have been appalled at the thought, but his clan had long given up on him. His mother offering him to join her clan, but he’d missed the familiarity of the party, which had become a clan of its own to him. There were few people in the world he could trust, fewer he could tolerate, and even fewer he’d consider calling his clan.

*  
Holding Pike’s hand, Pike stumbled nervously along side him. It was truly as shame Pike couldn’t see the market before them. He would have loved the obnoxious colours. Dozens of stall holders had row after row of everything a person could ever want. Passing trinketry items, Dark found himself stopping at as his eyes landed on a blue gemmed necklace that he knew Pike would love, provided he actually allowed himself to enjoy shopping for a change. Gone was his enthusiasm over each new town and adventure. Gone was the fellinwere obsessed with useless items that glittered. Instead of collect bobbles along their adventure, Pike had shifted to only buying practical things, when the loot was evenly distributed amongst the party. A fair chunk of the gold in his coin purse should rightfully be Pike’s but with inability to see he wouldn’t be able to spend it anyway. Walking into him, Pike let out a small gasp followed by a quick “I’m sorry”. With how sensitive a fellinweres nose was, his nerves must have the better of him if he could not recognise Dark’s scent  
“Relax it’s only me. I’ve stopped to make a purchase”  
“Oh... I’m still sorry”  
“No need to be sorry, no harm done”

Selecting the gemmed necklace, the store vendor was far too eager as he stood, shuffling forward from the crates he’d perched himself upon  
“You have a fine eye, Barbarian. That just came in”  
Dark severely doubted it’d just came in. Holding the gem to the light, it was only a lesser gem   
“How much?”  
“30 gold. Special offer”  
“10”  
The man’s eyes narrowed, realistically the gem was only worth about 15gold another 3 for the iron chain  
“That’s...”  
“It’s a lesser gem. The chain nothing special”  
“28”  
“15”  
“26 and I won’t go a gold lower”  
Dark lowered the gem, glaring at the man  
“18 and I won’t go a gold higher”  
“No need to be like that stranger. That’s fine quality from the north”  
“Whoever told you that has led you astray”  
“I’ve been...”  
“20. Final deal. Take it or I’ll be letting the public know that you’re passing lesser gems off at...”  
The man quickly judged him as Dark’s tone had increased in volume   
“20 then. Take the stupid thing”  
That was more like it. A little over price, but for Pike it was worth it. Pulling out his coin pouch, Dark counted out twenty golden coins, the vendor deflating at the clearly weighted pouch  
“Not a gold more. Pike, stand still, I have present for you”  
“Take your filthy fellin’ and get already”  
With the sale over there was no need for niceties on the vendors end. Dark ignoring him as he slipped his coin pouch back into his rat fur, and gathered up the necklace, before taking his time to place it around Pike’s neck  
“What?”  
“It’s a blue gem, only a lesser, but the shade is the same as your eyes”  
Pike’s hand came up to the necklace, now fixed securely in place   
“Dark...”  
“Don’t worry. It’s a gift”  
“But I don’t deserve it”  
“You do. If it helps you can think of it as payment for accompanying me”  
“I... don’t know what to say”  
“Most people would say thank you”  
Pike nodded  
“Thank you... I wish I could see it”  
“You soon will. Now keep close to me. I do not wish to lose you in this crowd”

Progressing from holding his hand, Pike held his arm as he free hand played with the necklace around his neck. Normal courting in a Barbarian Clan would mean presenting ones intended lover with a large fresh kill to show their abilities to provide. They’d as good as skipped real courting, yet Dark still felt a sense of pride over how happy the small gift had made Pike. The fellinwere deserved much more, the vendor calling him filthy had left him wishing he had his greatswords to slay the man where he stood. Only, he didn’t, nor would Pike appreciate the man’s head as proof of his affections. These affections may have crept up from nothing more than admiration for his party member, their closeness of late the closest they’d ever been. When it came to talking to Pike, Dark wished to hear all his stories. He wished to know Pike had found his way into their party, and how his home life had compared with the constant movement their current quest had left them on. He seemed to remember Pike mentioning he had siblings yet couldn’t remember he fell within his family unit. Only venturing a few more stalls, it was Pike who seemed interested by the stall this time. A food vendor of all things causing his ears to rise as he sniffed the air  
“Smell something you like?”  
“It smells like a meal we’d have at home... it’s milk based...”  
“You cats and your milk”  
“Well unlike normal cats, I’m not lactose intolerant”

Whatever that was, Dark had never heard the term before. The food vendor was selling some kind of white frothy drink that was probably the source of the milky scent. Laying down two gold, they were both given two small cups of the liquid. Dark hesitant as he gave it a sniff for himself before downing it in one gulp. It wasn’t great, nor was it bad, a kind of in between that left his throat and chest warm  
“Here, I’ll help you”  
Raising the cup to Pike’s lips, Pike opened his mouth for Dark to pour the contents in. Drinking it down in one large gulp, the fellinwere smiled brightly   
“Silkenfragah worm juice... we had a lot on our farm... The herbs were nice too”  
Dark may have been more hesitant to try the drink had he known it was made from worm milk. And how did “worm juice” translate into milk?  
“Did you like it?”  
“It reminds me of home. Did you?”  
“Not something I would order ever day”  
“No. You Barbarian’s prefer your ale... I suppose it’s not the same for you as it is for me”  
“That’s because we grew up in different locations”  
“I believe you grew up in the desert and met Gyro while he was travelling?”  
Dark nodded, now that he thought about it he couldn’t quite pinpoint their initial meeting, he’d been far more familiar with Gyro’s brother  
“Something like that. I knew his twin far better. But he is gone, and Gyro is not the man I remember him being”  
His cruelty went against his moral code as a Paladin. Or perhaps he was on some kind of misplaced righteousness that Dark didn’t understand   
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked”  
“I don’t mind you asking. I’d still like to hear more of your past”  
“My past isn’t all that interesting. I’m a thief, a rogue, not a Barbarian like you. We don’t have heroic tales of noble deeds”  
“I’m sure you have stories of your own”  
“Not many... my life was pretty boring. My mama used to say my head was off in the clouds. I dreamed of adventures far from home”  
“And now?”  
“I dream of returning home. I don’t know if I could settle if I did... but I do miss them”  
“What would they say if they met me?”  
“Mami would welcome you. She’d welcome anyone I considered a friend. My siblings would be... annoying”  
“How many do you have?”  
“I’m the youngest of five. We all live together, so the family is bigger than that...”  
“That must have been nice”  
Dark couldn’t relate to having a warm and happy family  
“Maybe when this is all over we can return to see them”  
“Maybe... but I can’t as I am now. All I’d do is bring them shame”  
“You need to stop that. You are not shameful”  
“I’m not exactly useful either”  
“You have your uses”  
“Let’s not go into that. Tell me what you see as we walk. I assume we’re yet to find a blacksmith you approve of”  
“You assume correctly. Though any blacksmith worth their money wouldn’t be found on the main market row”  
“So why are we?”  
“I’m attempting to enjoy a day out with you”  
“Attempting? How’s that working out for you?”  
“Not too bad. It’d be nicer if there were less people”  
“It doesn’t matter how much time passes, you still have such a dislike of crowds”  
“Does that upset you?”  
“No. It’s kind of... refreshing. And a bit weird. Normally I’m left alone, I’m not used to this fuss or attention”  
“If it’s too much, we can return to the inn”  
“No we can’t. You dragged me out of bed, so we’re not going back until we’ve found someone to make you new blades”  
“They’re called “greatswords””  
“They’re called stabby things”  
Hugging Pike up against him, Dark sighed   
“What am I going to do with you?”  
“Hopefully not lose me in the crowd”  
“That’s a given. You have my back and I have yours. We make a good team, Pike”  
“I wish I had your confidence”  
Dropping a kiss between Pike’s ears, Dark wished he had too. The party had decimated Pike’s confidence. His own faith in them waving due to the fact. How they’d functioned and faired as a party he was unsure.

*  
Dark enjoyed their morning in the market. He’d found a blacksmith, Pike had tried to copy him with two smaller swords, his slimmer frame surprisingly strong, though not made for dual-wielding. Even being blind, Pike held a strong stance with a single blade. A stance stronger than Dark had expected from him, as Dark stood behind him to slightly correct him. The blade was simple, a beginners blade, yet looked so good in Pike’s hand that it was added to Dark’s order for later collection. His own blades would take the best part of the next five days before could collect. He hadn’t found someone to mend his boots, but he’d reached his people threshold.

Pacing in front of their inn, Vala’s hair was loose and wild. Her eyes wide as she stood on tiptoe to peer across the crowds. Catching sight of them, she rushed over to them, Dark whispering into Pike’s ear to wait a moment for him. He didn’t wish to part from Pike, but the look in Vala’s eyes was wild, as if she confused or perhaps charmed  
“Keith! Keith, it’s me. It’s Allura. Keith, you have to some back... is that, Lance?”  
Dark’s hand went for his blade, only to remember he was currently weaponless. Placing himself between Vala and Pike, the archer was clearly enchanted, speaking words that made no sense  
“I know no “Keith”. Your words have no strength here, witch”  
“What? Keith’s that’s not funny. It’s not safe here. The game is corrupted. Pidge has been working hard to find us all a way in, but we need to pull you out. It’s feeding on the quintessence both you and Lance posses, his drop surged through the board. We need to rethink this whole thing... Keith, we need to...”

Dark cut her off... He didn’t know this “Keith”. The name felt weird... distant, as if he should know but really didn’t wish to. Reaching back, he pulled Pike against him   
“I don’t know what you are talking about. If Gyro has put this up to you, it’s not funny. You’re scaring Pike”  
“Keith, please listen to me. You need to come back. None of this is real”  
Pike whimpered, huddling close to him. He needed Pike focusing on him  
“Don’t listen to her. Let’s you and I go on a date tonight?”  
Pike nodded, his hands gripping at Dark’s armour, voice timid with fright  
“What’s wrong with her?”  
“Nothing. Nothing is wrong with her”  
Clearly Vala had been bewitched. He didn’t want to slay his party member, but if she made to harm Pike, he’d tear her apart  
“I’m sorry, Keith. I didn’t want to do this”

Vala placed her hands over Dark’s temples, Dark feeling intense pain as the world shimmered  
“Dark!”  
Someone was bellowing... he was bellowing? Both temples felt as if hoof picks were being driven into his brain. Stumbling, Pike held onto him tightly, both of them falling as Dark collapsed backwards.

*  
Gripping his head, Keith swore harshly at the pain. Honerva Zarkon Lotor, it hurts. Driving the heels of his palms into eyes, Keith gasped for breath as he tried not to vomit. What the quiznak was that?! What the hell had happened? He’d... oh... fuck. He’d had sex with Lance... oooh fuck... fuck... fuuuuuck... fuck  
“Keith?”  
“Is he with us? I’m not sure...”  
“You heard him swearing, I’d say he’s back with us”  
“Guys, you’re crowding him”  
Gyro? No... no... that wasn’t right... Shiro? Shiro sounded right...  
“Shiro?”  
“Yeah. You alright there?”  
“My head... what the quiznak? Why am I back? What happened? Where’s Pike?”  
No... not Pike. Quiznak...  
“Lance?”  
“Keith, can you focus on me?”

Moving his hands down, Keith blinked his brother into focus. Why was he back here?  
“Keith, what’s the last thing you remember?”  
The last thing... oh... quiznak... He’d had sex with Pike... and he’d... oh...  
“Keith?”  
There was no way he was admitting that... with the pack... No. That... they’d... what the fuck had he been thinking? Had he been thinking? His alpha was taking the news well, his dumb beast less annoyed at being absent and more smug as it mentally patted itself on the back for seeing this development coming   
“Pike had acid in his eyes. He... needed help. Why am I back?”  
“Allura didn’t tell you?”  
“I can’t... Why does my head hurt so much?”  
“I think you should give him some space. Allura had to pull you out of the game. The others are here, they’re all safe, but we need to talk”  
Keith nodded, regretting the action as he did  
“I think... I fucked up”

Now aware of his surrounds, Keith found himself sitting on the edge of Lance’s bed. His jacket had been moved to cover his shoulders, falling and bunching in his lap as he stared down at the red fabric. Beside him sat Shiro, Lance still laying across the floor on the improvised bed, Kosmo still at his feet  
“What happened?”  
“When you didn’t wake up, we feared the worst. Allura volunteered to try to enter the game to retrieve you. We don’t know why, but Lance allowed her entry”  
“Vala confessed. She confessed and tried to help with Pike”  
“Vala?”  
“Allura’s in game character... She confessed that she hadn’t mentioned Lance’s death... but Shiro... I fucked up... I fucked up so badly...”  
Quiznak... he was... crying? He couldn’t hide it behind talking about Allura  
“Hey, whatever happened, I’m sure we can talk about it”  
Keith shook his head. He was being egotistical putting his dramas first   
“How’s Lance?”  
“Up and down. Pidge has been working nonstop trying to gather as much data over the game as possible. The pack hasn’t been in a good way”  
“They brought it on themselves”  
Nope. His pity party hadn’t passed   
“Keith...”  
Keith groaned  
“You aren’t there with him, Shiro. He’s scared. He’s scared of everything... and I made it all worse. He’s so convinced he’s useless. He...”  
Keith couldn’t tell Shiro of Kuron’s actions. His brother would be devastated. Opening his mouth, the words fell out  
“I had sex with him”

Shiro cleared his throat, Keith groaning miserably   
“I don’t know what... I... we were sitting in the bath. We were talking and he was... He... and I wanted to. He... what was is wrong with me?”  
“Patience...”  
“Don’t you dare tell me that “patience yields focus”. I wasn’t that patient when I was focusing on my dick”  
“Keith...”  
“I took advantage on him. I was in his head and he was in my arms... he asked me if I wanted to... and fuck... I don’t know why I said yes...”  
“Keith...”  
“I took advantage of him. I can’t even remember what happened after that. He was in my arms... and Shiro, what the fuck am I doing? I went in to help him. He... he doesn’t... he’s so goddamn sad. But in his dreams we’ve been sleeping together...”  
“Keith, you need to take a breath. These are unusual circumstances”  
“But I slept with him”  
“Mentally. You were in the game. The game was probably affecting the situation. Look, we now know that when Lance dropped his quintessence corrupted the game. It’s been leaching energy in the form of quintessence from both of you. That’s why we pulled you out. If you’d stayed in there, you ran the risk of being stuck”  
“I thought I was in Lance’s head?”  
“Lance is controlling the game as much as the game is controlling him. Coran and Pidge have been theories. Like the Forest of Despair. You and Lance happened upon it when Lance’s fever was at its worse. Lance was scared of bandits and you being hurt, and that’s what happened. Bandits appeared and you were hurt. It’s channeling his fears into making these situations reality. Did anything else happen in there?”  
“We fought this giant worm... it was revolting but he tripped and I killed it. He tried to warn us about it because we were walking around lost”  
“Lance’s feelings of losing his pack, or being on the outside must have been what left you lost”  
“He said the party wasn’t listening to him”  
“Because he felt ignored by the pack. We’ve been talking about Kuron...”  
Keith sucked in a breath, shaking his head quickly. He didn’t want to have that conversation   
“Yes. We’ve been talking about. From what I understand Kuron was rather short with Lance. If Vala admitting the teams death...”  
“Vala only admitted it because I heard it from Allura”  
“It’s still something that was brought to light in Lance’s mind. He now knows that the others didn’t know”  
“But that doesn’t get him out... if the board is feeding off his quintessence... then he dying faster than we thought”

He didn’t want Lance to die. He didn’t want to lose him... He bitterly regretted having sex with Pike inside Lance’s mind, but now he wasn’t holding him and talking with him, he felt lost without him. He knew what it was to hold Pike. The sounds he made. The way his body moved... The feeling on him tucked up safely against him. His alpha wasn’t the dumb beast. He was the dumb beast trying to deny that maybe what he felt for Lance, even before his visions on the space whale, was maybe something more than best friends.

“Pidge and Coran have a plan. Allura was the test run. Now we know why Lance allowed Allura in, we intend to send them both in”  
“You can’t! What if they get trapped?!”  
“Allura won’t be going back in. Her magic is drained, and she’ll be keeping an eye on Pidge and Hunk. I probably won’t be granted access, so I’ll also be staying behind”  
“How would that even work?! Lance is in a drop. Two more alphas could... it could push him over”  
“And if we don’t, the game will consume him”  
“You don’t understand... I can feel him. I can remember how he felt. How he sounded. He has so much faith in me. He thinks I’m this courageous Barbarian who’s not afraid of anything. He... I know this is me making assumptions, but he was talking about how he lost his best friend”  
“Did he tell you more than that?”  
“No. Not really. We had sex. He didn’t want to talk about himself. You... he’s changed. He’s timid. He doesn’t want the attention on him, and he doesn’t want to be noticed. He’d admitted he isn’t alright... and I still had sex with him”  
“Keith. I think you’re not understanding. Lance let you in. He let you into the game. He’s not seeing you as his pack leader, he’s seeing you as the person he thinks his best friend is. You’ve been upset and unsettled since you found him. And I know you care about him. What happens in the game, is just that. It’s in the game. You haven’t tried to mate with Lance or to claim him in reality. You also said he was the one who brought up sex in the first place”  
“But... that’s because to him we’re already sleeping together”  
“Out of everyone his mind could have conjured up, he chose you. He trusts you”  
“But I was so cruel to him... I said I didn’t want to spend eternity with him”  
“Did you mean it?”  
That was one of the most douchiest things Keith had ever said. He would take it back if he could. If he’d had better words, and hadn’t let his anger, and embarrassment, at that the situation come out his mouth the way he had. Lance deserved happiness more than anyone he knew   
“He... no... I just wanted him to be able to go back home”  
“Then when we get him out of this, we’ll all sit down and discuss this”  
If only they’d talked before things had gotten this bad. Coran had said Lance had messaged him, so why had never got those messages? Why hadn’t Lance reached out for him? He knew why. He’d turned his back in his desires to save Shiro  
“What do I when I go back?”  
“You keep doing what you have been”  
“I slept with him. How do I look at him?”  
“The same way you did before you experienced it”  
“And how do I look at the others?”

Climbing to his feet, Shiro went to cross his arms before remembering he was down to just the one  
“I know Allura wasn’t right to keep Lance’s death a secret, but she’s been distraught over it. Hunk has been falling apart since he realised how little time he and Pidge had for Lance before and after the incident. Pidge isn’t dealing well. She’s been hyper fixated on how she can help. She’s not great with her words, but she’s taken it hard. Allura accepted most of the anger directed her way”  
“They all need to be angry with themselves. We all failed him... except for you”  
“That doesn’t mean I don’t have a sinking feeling in my chest for not knowing. I have none of Kuron’s memories... but I have this lingering feeling that he was intentionally cruel towards Lance. Especially after I tried to reach out to Lance in the astral field. If I was him, I would be scared of me too”  
“That wasn’t you”  
“That doesn’t mean the scars fade in an instant. He wore my face. He used my voice. If Lance has said something, no matter how hard it is to say, I think it’s best said so we can incorporate that into our plan to free him”

Opening and closing his mouth, the alpha knew his pack mate was right. He’d nearly been stuck in the game along side Lance and as the only one with any information over the other side, he needed to confess for Lance’s sake  
“Gyro in the game is based on Kuron. Everything Pike does is wrong by that man. He considers Pike a useless burden upon the team. It seems he was constantly reminded he was simply a fill in because I wasn’t there. He’s constantly apologetic, barely makes himself known as he’s shot down almost immediately. I haven’t see his weapon, but he doesn’t carry a blaster. The team treat him cruelly. They make him sleep outside, or act as if they don’t have enough gold for food and room for him. He tripped over in the battle, getting debris in his eyes. He can’t see anything. Block said it’d heal within a week... If what you said is right, his mind sabotaged him so he’d be the one injured after the battle with the Weabloanian worm...”  
“Keith, I’m going to tell you this. I know you’re going to be angry, but you need to accept that you can’t control everyone’s actions. You can’t stop him if he starts to self destruct further. All you can do is keep trying to get him to talk. If you can find a way for him to forgive everyone...”  
It wasn’t Keith’s job to decide who Lance forgave and when  
“But he’s not really, is he? It’s all his head and the game. That’s not him... You wouldn’t recognise him. Not after how badly he’s been treated. I can’t force forgiveness upon him. Not when I’m already lying to him”  
“Keith, all I mean is that you can get him to listen to you, we have a chance Hunk and Pidge can enter. They can apologise in person once they do. The three of you will be better than the one if you”  
“Are you sure? If he finds he can’t control them, or if they’re both acting strangely, then he won’t take the change well. He can’t handle the talk of anything in this world. The name “Lance” scares him. If they go in, they can’t call any of us by our actually names...”  
“I think this is a conversation we need to have with the rest of the pack. I know you’re angry, but we need to work together to get Lance out of that game as soon as possible. Just... go easy on them”  
Keith bit his lip, unsure he could go easy on them. His head was filled with information from two different realities, still throbbing from Allura forcibly removing him from the game  
“Fine. But if they start apologising, I’m not to blame if I snap. It’s not me they need to be apologising too”

The pack hadn’t moved far, sitting on, and the base of, Red’s ramp, Keith was reminded he was still angry that Red had let all of this happen inside of him without giving any of them some kind of warning to Lance’s pain. In his mind Black gave him a reassuring nudge, reminding him that he was still there. To have both his alpha and his lion back in his head felt right. Scooching over for him, Pidge was working away on her laptop. Both Hunk and Allura looking up at the pair of them as Keith wearily made his was down to past Pidge to sit on the edge of the ramp  
“Where are the others?”  
Pidge answered was she typed  
“Romelle is foraging. Krolia headed out to train, Coran went with her. Something about Altean swordsmanship”

Turning back to look at Pidge, the smaller alpha was tired. She smelt tired. Her red rimmed eyes had heavy black bags beneath them. No one had been taking care of her. Lance would have sent her off to bed long before she looked this exhausted. Her guilt manifested in her persistent work ethic. Anger started bubbling up, none of them would be feeling this shitty if things hadn’t happened the way they had. Quickly Keith looked from Pidge back to the grass at the base of the ramp. He didn’t want to blow up at his pack. He didn’t. Everyone made mistakes... even great big ones that might just kill their pack member  
“How are you feeling, Keith?”  
Hunk used his name, it was serious when Hunk used anyone’s name  
“I’ve... been better”  
“Allura was explaining you were... acting strange when she went to pull you out. Do you remember?”  
Keith gave a few ticks, the only thing that came to memory was the fact he’d also had sex with Pike on the bed they were sharing. His shameless dick giving a twitch at the memory of riding Pike into the mattress then bouncing him on his dick like a rag doll... but he didn’t remember Allura being there... it was fucking awkward enough as it was. If the others noticed the arousal in his scent, they didn’t mention it. Pike was like a damned drug. He wanted more of him... as Pike and as Lance... He was soooo quiznakking screwed on both fronts  
“No”  
“When I approached you, you weren’t you. You and Pike had been shopping, and you started calling me a witch. I tried using your name but you didn’t recognise it and grew very offensive. I don’t have any memories of being my character, I assume now that I was talking to Darkstorm and Pike, rather than Keith and Pike”

He’d been in the game... and Dark had been his prominent personality? He didn’t remember any of that... He was sure he might, though Allura had pulled him out. But his last clear memory was being in bed with Lance  
“I don’t remember that”  
“You we’re trying to shield Pike from me. You pulled him against you, and said something about a “date night”. Pike seemed confused as to what was happening”  
“That’s because you guys don’t really exist. We were all in his head and in the game before he let me in. You’re all based on the times he felt worst. Shiro... Gyro isn’t based on Shiro. Lance has based me on some kind of bad arse leader that I’m not. Vala I think was forgiven because allies admitted to everyone here that Lance had died so I was able to use that in game. Every time you mention something from here, he panics. It’s not a pack, or a team, it’s a party... on a quest”  
“Dude, we probably know the game better than you”  
Keith clenched his fists. He wasn’t going to snap. Nope. He wasn’t... Hang on. Had Allura said something about a date?  
“Allura. Did you say that Dark was taking Pike on a date?”  
“That’s what he said. He was holding Pike soooo protectively”

Fading off in a dreamy tone, Allura was clearly imagining said date. That bastard was off having a date with his Pike. The bastard had already taken Pike shopping with him... something he’d wanted to do. Not that he was fan of the crowds or really understood how the currency worked there. But Dark wasn’t the one Pike should be relying on. It should be him, inside of Dark.

“Keith, buddy. You okay? You look a little angry”  
Hunk copped a glare as Keith raised his head   
“It’s nothing. Dark better now be making things more complicated than they are”  
“I don’t think they could possibly get any more complicated at this point”  
“Dark and Pike seem to be dating in game”  
Standing as he whipped around, Keith snarled at Shiro   
“What the fuck?!”  
His brother might as well have screamed that they’d been fucking while he was at it   
“It’s useful information. It’s important to know everything before the others try to join”  
“I told you in the confidence!”  
“It affects the game relationships. It also seems that Gyro was particularly verbally cruel towards Lance, which would be based on Kuron’s actions”  
“We aren’t dating! I don’t know what we are... we’re... close”  
Hold up... we’re they dating? Dark was taking Pike on the date that Keith should be taking Pike on. He couldn’t even lie to himself and admit he wasn’t jealous, and this anger wasn’t over how Dark might harm Pike. Just because he’d never been on a date night didn’t mean anything. He would have given Pike a far better date night then that stupid Dark.

“Dude, chill. It’s all up in your scent that you’re all hot for Lance. Just try not to be all icky about it when we get in there”  
Keith gaped at Pidge. Hunk unhelpful as he added  
“We can all smell it in your scent. You don’t smell like an unmated alpha as much as you used to. Not that we go around sniffing you or anything... this is awkward”  
“I’m not dating Lance. Don’t any of you see the problem with me getting too close to him in game. What if he doesn’t want to come back?”  
Pidge cut in  
“And what if what you’re doing helps bring him back? His vitals have been doing better since you entered”  
“You said the game is drawing his quintessence from him”  
“And with both of you in there, it’s slowed. His fever has lessened. His scent is still awful, but he wasn’t as distressed to have us in the room with him”  
“That’s right! What the fuck were you all doing in there?!”  
He was supposed to be the only alpha allowed near Lance. Shiro had warned against too many scents sending him deeper into the drop  
“Relax. We were only in there for a short time before you woke up. Coran placed a shirt from me and a shirt from Hunk in Lance’s bedding so he’d have his pack scents. Lance already had your jacket and was heavily scented by you sleeping across him. When it didn’t send him deeper into the drop, we tried experimenting with one of us going into his room”  
“You could have killed him!”  
How long had he been sleeping? So much had happened, surely he couldn’t have been sleeping for days?  
“You’re not the only one trying to help him!”  
“No, but I’m the only one he seemed to trust to help him! Fuck...!”

Starting to storm up the ramp, Keith regretted his words by the third step. His alpha was proud of him, but he was sickened by himself, only continuing to huff off thanks to his alpha’s ego  
“Keith...”  
Sidestepping Shiro, Keith continued on, though instead of returning to Lance he found himself throwing himself down in the pilot’s chair of his previous Lion. He couldn’t keep going around in circles. He couldn’t keep having the same fights with his pack. He was only driving the wedge deeper between all of them. He was being as stupid as his alpha... He... he liked Lance. Liked as in... liked him more than a friend. He didn’t know what it was like to fall in love, nor did he want to walk right up to Lance and tell him he loved him. He might tell him he liked him. Keith felt that telling someone you loved them from the start wasn’t really leaving you anywhere to go. At least with a like you weren’t also getting that persons hopes up... but... he really did kind of maybe like Lance. And he really did kind of maybe like making love to Pike... who was and wasn’t Lance at the same time. Did he like Pike for the Lance inside of him, or did he like Lance for the Pike inside of him? Why’d it all have to be so confusing, and why did Dark have to be taking Pike on the date?... and why did it have to hurt thinking about Dark having sex with Pike when the thought of slipping like again scared him? He wanted to understand. His confusion always led to anger. His anger always led to him ending up alone... and he really... he really didn’t want to be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know. It’s not the date night you were thinking, but at least there was some fluffiness and some sexiness... and some Keith missing outieness.
> 
> I know I’m being sure harsh on the team, but I’m a ho for a brooding Keith and Damsel in Distress Lance. Though, Lance really isn’t and that’s a coming somewhere before the end.


	10. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Keith... I have no idea if what you’re going to do is make this better or worse for everyone

Reentering the game Keith was nervous over what came next. He’d spent long enough in the pilots chair for him to fall asleep, woken by Coran who sent him to shower and eat with the rest of the pack. His pack... He felt so quiznakking bad over his temper, the others acting far too understanding over his nearly found, we’ll not newly found more newly no longer ignored, feelings he’d developed for Lance. All of them sympathetic over the pain Keith must be in seeing the omega his heart had settled on in such a condition. When he’d rejoined Coran in Lance’s quarters, Coran he been cleaning Lance up. Beneath the blankets, unknown to him, lay improvised drainage tubes, trying relieve the fluid build up in Lance’s lungs. From how Coran explained it, it sounded like Lance had something akin to pneumonia caused by his drop and slowly failing body. The omega was still bleeding his red heat, something that wouldn’t stop until Lance came out of his drop or died. Sitting beside Lance, he’d wept bitterly, his alpha pained over their omega in still such a delicate state. Coran had asked him to wait until he’d finished tending to Lance before he touched him, Keith itching to the whole time. It felt to him that Lance was showing just how strong he was by holding on as long as he had. His stupid pack mate was far too stubborn, even if what should have been his dying days.

Falling and waking, he found himself laying beside Pike. A tangle of limbs as Pike slept soundly. Somewhere between the tears and nonstop whispered words to both Lance and Coran, he’d said too much. Pulled into a rough huff by the Altean, Coran told him to simply let himself feel whatever he was feeling. They may be inside the game, but they were also inside Lance’s head, where Lance had placed a great deal of trust in him. He wasn’t giving him a free pass to seduce and use Lance, so much as saying they could get to know each other around their dynamics. Lance was connected to his character, Coran confident that Lance would retrain some, not if all, memory of the game. Keith wasn’t sure he wanted him too. He didn’t want to feel ashamed of his actions when he came back to himself. Reaching out to ruffle Pike’s hair, Pike let out a soft purr at the touch. Omega’s purred when they were happy. Lance really had chosen the right class for his dynamic. Sleepily nuzzling into his touch, Keith smiled at how soft the moment between them was, then promptly noted Lance’s new necklace. It was very Lance and very something he couldn’t buy for himself. Fucking Dark.

“Are you watching me sleep again?”  
“Maybe...”  
Pike purred, snuggling closer to him  
“Is it time to get up?”  
“Not yet”  
“Then come back to sleep”  
“I’m fine like this... you sleep if you want to”  
“Mmm... I had a really nice night last night”  
The hours between the game’s reality and real reality didn’t line up, but if Dark and Pike had been on a date that night, then he kind of felt he was crashing it. At least Dark seemed to have treated Pike right  
“Yeah?”  
“Mmm...”  
Keith didn’t want to ask, but he needed to know what said date had entailed  
“Which bit was your favourite?”  
“All of it...”  
Damn Pike. That wasn’t descriptive at all  
“... it felt like something out of a dream”  
“Then you should try dating me in reality”  
“I just might... did you enjoy yourself”  
“Yeah... but this is nice too”  
“It’s nice”   
Nuzzling into him, Pike drifted back to sleep in a matter of moments. As much as he liked that Pike was happy, he hated that he wasn’t the one who’d made him that happy. He had a rival for Pike’s heart and it was his own damn self. Keith almost wished Dark would have tucked his tail between his legs and run back to Gyro by now. Almost. If it wasn’t for the fact Lance would be hurt by it all. He didn’t like his brother like that, but it was kind of really quiznakking difficult to figure out his feelings when his rival was himself. Having Gyro kiss him was disgusting. Having Pike kiss him was a wow moment. He’d already gotten the message loud and clear about his sexuality during his ruts, he just never expected to find himself pining over a kind of fictitious character. If there was an award out there for confusion, Keith was sure he’d take gold.

Dozing by Pike, Pike let him know when he was awake by sliding into his lap. Draping himself over Keith, Pike peppered his face with kisses until Keith paid attention, groaning as his hands came up grip Pike’s very naked arse  
“Having fun?”  
“Just wanted to say good morning”  
“Someone’s in a good mood”  
“I woke up feeling better than I have in a while”  
“I can see. Enjoy your date that much?”  
“Mhmm. Almost as much as I enjoyed you sticking up for me yesterday. I was scared when you collapsed, but I’m so grateful you’re alright”  
Collapsing would have been when Allura brought him forcibly back to reality   
“It’s fine. I’m fine”  
“It was still scary. You’re like... the only person who treats me for me... I thought for a moment something horrible was going to happen”  
Poor Pike. He had no idea... and Keith had no idea what had happened the previous day  
“I’m fine. I promise”  
“I know... but... I was still scared. It... it got me thinking... and I want to tell you about it... about him. I don’t want you to die... and I don’t want to lose you because you think I’m thinking of him”  
“So you decided climbing into my lap was the best place to sit while you tell me about him?”  
Pike sat back, Keith opening his eyes. The view was pretty good as far as he was concerned, though he did feel a few particularly hard stabs of guilt over his previous actions. Sliding himself up under Pike, Keith sat slouched with his shoulders against the bed head as his hands moved to take Pike’s  
“You don’t have to tell me, if you’re not ready, I’ll understand”  
“I thought about it a lot... and I think... things are different now. Between us. We agreed no feelings, that’d just be sex... but you’ve been treating me so good... I... I want to trust you”  
“I’ve been treating you like the person you are”  
“No. You’ve been so kind to me. You brought me this necklace. You stood up for me in front of Vala, then at the party meeting. You had dinner brought up to our room because you knew I was too self conscious to see the others. You helped me in the bath again, then back to our room...”

Keith wasn’t seeing the magical dream part of their date. If that was Dark’s dating game, he actually stood a chance. No. He couldn’t let him be distracted when Pike was going to confess something to him. Something that be of use for helping to save him from the game all that faster. Letting go of Pike’s hard, Keith reached Pike to grab the edges of the blanket, covering Pike as the cat-man rested his forehead against Keith’s shoulder   
“Pike?”  
“Sorry... it’s just... it’s going to sound so stupid. I shouldn’t be... he made it very clear what he thought of me”  
“It’s his loss”  
“Can you stop being understanding long enough for me to explain?”  
Keith snorted lightly, rubbing his cheek against Pike’s head as he did  
“I’ll do my best”  
“That’s all I ask... this sounds so stupid. He was... he wasn’t even my best friend to begin with. We went to the same government sanctioned boarding school, and he ended up leaving, but when we met again he didn’t remember me... but it was okay you know. He’d been gone for a while, he dropped out of his studies...”

Keith had a huge “oh, shit” moment. Oh, shit. He wasn’t sure he was supposed to be hearing this. He also wasn’t sure what Pike was going to use to explain the fact they’d been cadets in a space program when they had no idea about any of that here...  
“We met again later. I don’t blame him for not remembering me. I wasn’t that good at anything. Not like him. They called him a prodigy with his military tactics. To begin with I was dumb. I’d spent so long in his shadow, I was only promoted up a rank because he left... everything I did was compared to him. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t good enough. But... he had his own problems and I was blind to how much it hurt him. We fought and fought. Our friends didn’t have any patience with us, until one day we were together and we just... started talking. I upset him so many times. Especially making a fool of myself over this girl I thought I liked. You already know I like boys and girls, but I was crazy about this girl. I like him too, but I thought he’d never see me like that. Then one day he decided to leave. I was happy for him. He was moving onto something better. Something bigger than us... but at the same time, I didn’t want him to go. It was fine to begin with, but it wasn’t the same without him. I started sending him letter after letter, but he never replied. And I started to realise even though I thought I liked the girl, I liked him too. I missed him. I missed being by his side. He was so fierce in battle... and I was just a farm boy. In some ways he’s kind of like you, but not in a whole lot of others. In our time apart not once did he write back. Then, when I saw him again, he walked right past me. I wish... I wish he’d told me if I was annoying him. I stopped sending the letters after a while, he seemed happier not knowing about what the people that’d been his friends had up to. But it hurt... he found time for the people who’d been our friends. But to me... all he said was that he was glad he didn’t have to spend a lifetime with me. Anyway, the girl I liked starting dating someone else and I realised if we ever did date she’d never be looking at me. By now I was already drifting away from my friends. I wasn’t as smart or skilled as them. I don’t remember how I met the others, but formed a party... and I thought maybe I could be happy. I looked up to him so much. I wanted him to be able to talk to me like he used to. He was always hard to kind of judge... but that wasn’t his fault. He’d been through so much and when he came back, he seemed in a better place than when he’d left. So... it was okay that he never replied. Not when he’d been happy away... I just thought I meant more to him than that. Even if he didn’t return my feelings I was so sure we’d still be friends”

“I’m sorry”  
Keith didn’t know about all the messages. With the security of the Blades, it didn’t always mean getting messages unless Kolivan was contacted, then those were mostly video calls. Pike was right, they’d grown closer. Lance had wormed his way into his heart in a certain way. He kept the pack calm and took care of all of them. He backed Keith up, he didn’t judge him when it’d come out that his father had died. He didn’t joke about it. He simply listened, to whatever Keith was saying. He backed him and pulled him up... and Keith had ignored him  
“It’s not your fault. Like I said, he was in a much better place when he came back. He was cool and calm, held himself tall, like he’d finally been able to make peace with the past that haunted him. I really was happy for him, but was happier still to have him back. People change and grow, I was the one still stuck in the past. That’s my sad and stupid backstory. I feel in love with the guy who’d I considered my closest friend too late. You remind of me him. When we’d get along... sometimes we’d fight like crazy. But having him there was comforting. Having you here is comforting...”

Pike’s confession obviously didn’t quite follow along the lines of reality. He was the friend who left and returned. He was the one who’d grown on the space whale, with his mother. He’d learned she hadn’t left because she didn’t love him. She’d left because she had. His mother couldn’t possibly have known that his father would die before he had a chance to tell him the truth. He’d seen his father happy with her. The pair of them happy with him. Keith had lost so many memories of his father, ending up being a burden after his passing. It wasn’t the life his mother wanted for him. She would have been far happier had he continued to stay ignorant to the galactic war, yet she was proud of him. Proud of him as a Blade and as a Paladin of Voltron. The decision to leave had been to find her, but it’d also been so Lance could remain a Paladin as he rightly belonged being. He’d thought himself clever telling himself to leave the maths Pidge, but now he had a feeling that his words hadn’t translated into what he’d hoped they’d mean. With a soft sniffle, Pike drew him back from his thoughts. The man was still waiting for some kind of reply  
“I’m sure your friend regrets his actions”  
“I’m not so sure”  
“Well as someone who’s let a friend down before, I’m sure he is. He was probably embarrassed or something, because he’d be stupid to disregard a friend like you”  
“You don’t know him”  
Ooooh, but he did  
“Then let me speak on my behalf. I’m sure he found being with you the best times of his life. And he might not have gotten your letters. He might have also been looking for a way to reconnect but just didn’t know how... maybe he was scared because you’d been so close that things wouldn’t be the same”  
“Then... then why couldn’t he be honest? I know I’m a burden. I know I’m clingy, and clumsy, and stupid. I don’t know what I did to him”

Pike was breaking his heart here. They’d nearly lost Shiro forever. Lotor had betrayed them all. And Lance had no one to talk to about that. He cared for Shiro, and he cared for Allura. He would have been hurt by what they’d both gone through, on top of having his best friend turn out to having been gone for two years.   
“You didn’t do anything. I’m sure of it. You’re a good person, Pike. I like you”  
“I’m not sure why”  
Keith wrapped his arms around Pike, squeezing him hard enough for Pike to squeak  
“Because you’re a good man, Pike. You always have been. If I could punch your friend in the face, I would”  
“Please don’t... I don’t want you to fight anymore than you have”  
“Only for you. He doesn’t deserve your love”  
That and if he gave himself a black eye, Pike would be confused  
“He had a lot going on. I get it... I just want him to be happy... and I want it to stop sucking so damn hard. We should think about getting up now. My eyes are itchy”  
“You’re changing topic”  
“Is it working?”  
Keith sighed softly. He was going to be kicking himself for some time over how he’d handled things   
“No. Show me your face. I want to check your eyes”

Pike’s eyes were red and weepy, Keith using some of the water in the basin on their dresser to wet the strip cloth he’d found on the chair beside the piece of furniture. Dark must have picked up some supplies to make caring for Pike’s eyes easier. Sitting still Pike was well behaved as he cleaned the gunk away  
“Do they feel any better?”  
“Itchy, but not bad. I’m getting better remembering to keep them closed”  
Pike beamed in pride, Keith dropping a quick kiss on his lips as a reward  
“Good. Do you want to get something to cover them with? So they don’t get anything else in them?”  
Keith was quite proud of thinking of that by himself. He also happy that Dark hadn’t purchased a new headband for Pike. The man might have one upped him on the necklace, but he wasn’t getting in and stealing Pike from under him  
“I... don’t like the dark. It scares me”  
“You don’t need to get something to cover your eyes if you don’t want to. I thought it’d help keep them clean as they heal, but if you’re fine with keeping them closed than that’s perfectly fine too”  
“I’m being stupid, aren’t I?”  
“No. You already said you don’t like the dark. You don’t have to cover them, I don’t mind either way”  
“But if they heal badly I’ll only be dead weight”  
“Pike, I’ll carry your arse to the damn castle if I have to. You’re not dead weight. We’re going to make it there together”  
Pike laughed softly at him  
“Don’t make offers like that. Don’t you know we cats are lazy? That being said, I wouldn’t mind getting something to keep my hair back from my face”  
“I already planned to take you shopping to replace your headband. I know it’s no necklace, but I do want to buy it for you”  
“You don’t have to do that”  
“I want to. Now, we should dress and you should eat”  
Pike tilted his head  
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”  
Leaning down, Keith pressed three quick kisses to Pike’s lips. Pike laughing again  
“Not that. My eye drops. The ones Block got for me”  
Keith blushed with embarrassment. How was he supposed to know about these eye drops?!  
“Oh. Yeah. Right. Let me find them”

Pike opted for breakfast downstairs, mumbling over how he felt better about eating when Dark was enjoying himself. Keith wouldn’t have minded where they ate, as long as Pike was eating. He was painfully thin from neglect. The more he ate, the better. Holding onto Keith’s arm, Keith helped Pike down the stairs at the snails pace necessary. Snails probably would have moved faster, Pike having to feel each step with his toes before he could step down, leaving Keith tempted to simply carry him down. His patience with his companion was rewarded with a hip bump, that wouldn’t have happened if Pike could see how many patrons were already in the inn waiting for their breakfast. Finding Gyro’s hair in the crowd, Keith led Pike to where the other members of the party were crowded into a small booth in a not so appealing corner, Meklavar shifting to make space for the pair of them to join the party. Casting a covert glance Vala’s way, she didn’t seem to be being controlled by Allura yet, or Allura was a hell of an actress, as she barely blinked at the arrival of the pair of them   
“You two are late”

Feeling Pike tense, Dark squeezed his thigh in support. It was far too early for Gyro to be starting this  
“I over slept”  
“You over slept, or Pike did?”  
“What does it matter? We’re hear now. What have missed?”  
Gyro flagged a waitress over, ordering a serving of cheese and bread for Keith, and nothing for Pike. Glaring at Gyro, Keith added some dry fruit and juice to the order, figuring that way Pike could pick at whatever came. With the disruption over Meklavar drew a map from somewhere on her person, laying it over everyone’s breakfast   
“Not this again”  
Groaning loudly, Hunk pulled his plate of eggs and some kind of beans out from under the map  
“Yes, this again. I was hoping now that we’ve all slept, we could talk about this again”  
Pike had no idea what was going on, neither did Keith so he wasn’t able to say anything of use to Pike  
“Meklavaaaaar. We decided no maps at the breakfast table”  
“You decided. After our talk yesterday I went to see the sailors at the wharf. There’s a boat that leaves at the end of the week and it’ll take us right up near the fair side of mountains. That’ll mean the Bridge of Blood and the Quite Plains. We’ll still need to go around the Green Mines, but...”  
“The Quite Plains are on the other side of the mountain range. If we take a ship we’ll end up too far above the mountains and have to trek back down as it is. It’s a six week voyage”  
“It’s either that or we waste our time walking”  
“I’d rather walk”  
“You’re a healer, can’t you heal your own sea sickness”  
Hunk threw his fork down. Crossing his arms he leaned back in his seat with a heavy frown  
“It doesn’t work like that. We decided we’d walk”  
Gyro cleared his throat  
“Pike decided we should walk. Dark went along with what he decided”  
“I said we should walk because not only will we end up having to back track, Hunk gets sea sick, and then there’s the Bakuul to think of to. Plus the mermaids and the Siren Islands. Plus with all Meklavar’s armour, your armour and Dark’s armour if something was to happen to the ship then how do you expect them to be able to swim to shore?”  
“But sailors take the same route all the time”  
“Yeah. And how many have been ship wrecked?”

Pike was passionate about not getting on a ship. Keith was kind of curious, but Pike had brought up a good point about their armour. Meklavar would sink like a stone  
“Can you show me again where the ship would drop us? Compared with the route we’ll be walking”  
Meklavar jabbed the map, they’d be closer to the mountains, and wasn’t the objective to go over the mountains?  
“Thunder, I know you think you’re in love with Pike, but what we had was something special... Why don’t you give up this nonsense and come back to me? Don’t you miss the way we’d make love? The way you felt beneath me”  
Keith’s eyes widened at Gyro’s soft words. Nope. That was a firm no... and if he was beneath Gyro, didn’t that mean he... noooo. Nope. No. He had a firm exit only agreement with his arse. That thing was not going up there under any circumstance. Noooo. Nope. Kissing him was bad enough  
“Would you stop that already. Especially when Pike is right here. I like him, okay. I know we didn’t always get along but I had time to think about things”  
“You said you only tolerated him... Surely you know how special you are to me. You’re special, Thunder. You’re destined for great things. We are destined for great things together”  
“Pike is special too. He’s smart. He’s intelligent. He’s brave and he always puts the party first. He doesn’t make me feel pressured like you are right now... I like spending time with Pike”  
“I should go”

Pike mumbled softly as he made to move, Keith tightening his hold on his thigh. Ignoring Gyro and his ridiculousness, Keith turned back to Meklavar  
“No. You’re not going anywhere. You’re part of our party and you’re not being left out of decisions. Meklavar, Pike is right. How do you expect to swim in your armour?”  
“I do have clothes on underneath... We can buy travelling clothes”  
“And if something was to happen at sea, we would have no protection. I agree with Pike, we should walk”  
“Well I think you’re both wrong. You should see the ship. It’s one of the largest in port. The Captain Zarkoff seemed happy enough”  
Zarkoff was too much like Zarkon. That wasn’t happening   
“No. Definitely no. Zarkoff can’t be trusted”  
“How do you know that?”  
“Because that name gives me a bad feeling. We’re walking. We don’t know who we can trust”  
“You’re not the party, Dark. You don’t get to make the decisions because you don’t want to stop screwing Pike”  
Pike shrank beside him. Shiro wanted him to create openings with the others so Pidge and Hunk could find a way into the game  
“Don’t talk like Pike hasn’t saved you before”  
“And you can’t judge a man by his name. He told me himself, that he took it from the past emperor of the south as a joke”  
Pike covered his ears, Zarkoff must have been too close to Zarkon... another trigger word to avoid   
“This is over. Block doesn’t want to sail, I don’t want to sail, and neither does Pike. Vala, what do you say?”  
Vala’s face remained a tired kind of neutral   
“I know I was unfair towards you yesterday, scaring both you and Pike for reasons I do not understand, yet I believe that sailing would save us a lot of time. Our lodgings and meals would be taken care of, and it might be fun to be part a ships crew?”  
Dammit. This would have been easier if Vala was Allura already. Then again, Allura might be just as excited as Meklavar to travel by ship for the novelty of it  
“I don’t want to fight, but I have a horrible feeling about sailing...”  
“That’s because you’re a chicken. Come on, Pike! It’s the open ocean! You were always talking about the ocean. If it wasn’t the ocean, then it was the rain. We all miss home, Pike. You’re not the only one, but you don’t see us sulking”  
“You have no idea what Pike is going through, and you have no right to be like this towards him. None of you do. Or do you want me to start pointing out the things you’d rather people not notice. Like how you can barely take care of yourself because you’re always too busy working on projects that you hardly ever finish? Pike’s the one who’d make you go to bed. He’d make you take a break and remind you to take care of yourself. He deserves your respect and I’m over having this fight again, and again, with you. I don’t want to sail, and if you do, then Pike, Block, and I will travel by foot and meet you there”  
Meklavar huffed   
“We can’t split the party up. Why don’t you guys come see the ship? Meet the captain?”  
Pike still had his hands over his ears, shaking his head as he started trying to draw himself into a ball  
“Guys... stop... stop fighting. I don’t want to fight... Block, I don’t want to sail, but I think we’re going to have to...”  
“Pike!”  
Keith regretted how sharply he said Pike’s name as Pike flinched  
“I’m sorry, Dark. I’m sorry. I don’t want the party fighting. I want us all to get along again... but I keep making it worse”  
Meklavar mumbled something as she gathered her map up. The mood heavy at the table as Dark gathered Pike against him  
“You don’t keep making it worse. You’re entitled to your feelings. We’re a party we all need to be on even footing and we all need to make a decision. I think for now we should all eat breakfast then take a walk”  
Pike nodded against him, Keith not sure what else he could do other than hold him as they waited for their food to arrive.

*  
Walking with Pike through the markets, Keith knew Lance would have loved all of it had he been able to see. It was loud and bustling, chaotic and colourful. Filled with more than he could ever hope to care about. Holding his arm, Pike kept his cheek against Dark’s shoulder, still quiet over Meklavar’s insistence at breakfast. Despite knowing that Pike didn’t wish to sail, Keith found himself leading them towards the dock which was easy enough to see given the size of the big grey ship. If this had been reality it would have screamed of Galra, but being in game it clearly screamed the game’s interpretation of Galra. Shiro had said to find a way in for the others, and now the ship seemed like it was going to be the other way. Perhaps if Block were ill, Pike would forgive him? He didn’t want his in game companions hurt, but he and Lance both needed to get out of this game as soon as possible. Before he blacked out another day and Lance ran out of energy to fight for his life.

Stopping short of the docks, Keith led Pike to lean against the white railing that ran the length of the sea wall. Above them birds were crying out, some further down swooping at the fishermen hauling in their daily catch. Lance would have loved it. He would have loved the blue green sea before them. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t see and enjoy his surrounds, not that Pike seemed to be having a bad time as he turned his face towards the sun  
“What are you thinking about?”  
“Life...”  
Keith snorted  
“Life? What about it?”  
“I was just thinking about how it’s weird how things work out. The more I don’t want to go on that ship, the more Meklavar seems certain it’s the best way to proceed”  
“I don’t want to go on it either”  
“Yet you asked her where the ship would dock”  
Ah... he’d upset him  
“Only because I wanted to understand why she’s so certain that this is best”  
“You know Meklavar. She’s a beast in human skin... you know, there was a time she was a sister to me”  
“What happened?”  
“I over heard her one day. Her and Block. They were laughing over the fact that I found Vala capable and impressive. It was a reminder that a commoner like me isn’t fit to be the companion of anyone really”  
Keith bumped Pike with his hip  
“What does that make me?”  
“I honestly don’t know. Sometimes you seem a different person. I feel your eyes on me and I feel like I don’t know you... It’s complicated”  
“I’m sorry”  
“You haven’t done anything wrong. Except for maybe fighting with Gyro”  
“Pike...”  
“I get it, you know. Caring about someone and not wanting to share them. You were his far before you were mine. I was a convenience, and now we’re this. Sometimes I wonder if I never came back from death”  
“Pike...”  
“I’m being morbid, but do you ever wonder if there’s more out there? More than this and now? A space where I don’t exist anymore?”  
“I wouldn’t want to live in a space where you don’t exist”  
“There you again, saying something strange”  
“It’s not strange... I confess I’m terrible at these kinds of things... and lately I’ve been feeling like I’m in a whole new reality, but I’m glad to have met you. In any reality, I can tell you that I’d want to be your friend”  
Pike threw his head back as he laughed, gripping the rail as he did  
“What am I supposed to say to that?”  
“I don’t know? Maybe you’d like to be my friend too?”  
“I can swear that the world is a better place having you in it. I like being your friend. There’s something about you that I find attractive. Not sexually, but you as whole person. Though the sex is great, I think I could very easily spend the rest of my life by your side for a kiss, and that scares me”

Nudging Pike to half turn, Keith cupped Pike’s face in his hands. The kiss he placed upon Pike’s lips eagerly turned deeper as Pike’s arm snaked around his waist. Sharing several long kisses, Keith was utterly fucked. He liked Pike far more than he should. If not for the fact Dark would have placed an order for new blades, he’d be happy to take Pike by the hand and leave the others to fend for themselves  
“You don’t need to be scared anymore”  
“If only depression were that easy to cure... Have you ever found it funny how easy it is to love someone other than yourself? To forgive someone that isn’t yourself? I never should have tripped when we were fighting that worm”  
“You can’t blame yourself for that. That thing was disgusting”  
“But if I hadn’t fallen, you wouldn’t have lost your swords”  
“Swords can be replaced. You can’t be”  
“Are you like this because you and Gyro fell out? He loved you. The whole time you were gone, you still remained his focus. If there’s something more there, that’s not resolved, I want you to be able to resolve it without guilt”  
“It took me a while to figure things out, but Gyro isn’t the one for me”  
That and the whole brother thing... that he still didn’t need to be thinking about. His arse clenching involuntarily as he tried to get Gyro’s insinuations out of his head. He... stupidly liked Lance, and he stupidly liked the Pike aspect of Lance. Only... maybe... it wasn’t so stupid. From the beginning Lance had found a way to surprise him. He found his way past Keith’s walls, and in typical fashion he’d made himself impossible to ignore  
“And what does that make me?”  
“The person that I want to see if they are the one for me”  
“Dark, if we date properly, I don’t want you take my side all the time. I don’t want to be making decisions for the both of us. I want you to speak your mind. I want you to push me on things and I want you to stand up to me. I want you to pull me up when I’m wrong and to tell me I’m wrong, and why. I don’t want a relationship where we aren’t equals. When we go into battle, I don’t want you to be focused more on me than on the outcome. I don’t want you endangering your safety over me and mine. I want to be with someone who believes I can take of myself out there”  
Keith knew they couldn’t keep that promise. He’d do anything for his pack, and for Lance, even pushing the limits of sanity to keep them safe  
“Then you need to speak up more. You need to tell the party when things aren’t okay. You need to believe in yourself, like I believe in you”  
“I don’t know how long that’s going to take”  
“Then I’ll have to keep reminding you”  
Pike dropped his head, his words whispered  
“Let’s go somewhere private. Right now I feel like I’m on top of the moon”

Returning to the inn, they stumbled through the door. Pike’s nimble fingers undoing the straps of Keith’s armour with far more ease than he’d had putting it on. Ridding himself of the unneeded piece of clothing, when Pike jumped, Keith caught him by the arse, carrying him across their bed where they tumbled down. His heart was racing, his conscious reminding him that this might be another mistake, but he wanted this moment. He wanted to forget everything outside their room. He wanted to lavish attention on Pike, bring him to pieces beneath him. He wanted Pike to feel every bit as beautiful as his soul was. Here he couldn’t mess it up. He couldn’t take it too far as to mark Pike without his permission... fuck if he didn’t want to though. To sink his teeth into Pike’s nape as he knotted him firmly. To create a spark of life between him. He’d had his alpha in his mind for far too long. None of that could happen here, even if his heart was finally talking with his head over what they both wanted.

Undressing Pike, Pike was a blushing mess as he laughed. Small pert nipples already stood erect as Keith gazed down at Pike from between his long caramel legs. There’s hardly been a moment to breath since finding out Lotor’s shocking secret. Everything had happened so suddenly. One thing after another... It finally clicked to him that from the moment Shiro woke, he shouldn’t have crowded him as much as he had. He’d practically pushed Shiro’s death and absence in his face each time he denied talking about it. Maybe if he’d listened more, and used his ego less, he and Lance could have found a natural way to where they were now. Reaching out his hand, Keith nuzzled into Lance’s palm. He knew his lover was seeking his face  
“Hey, we don’t have to do this if you aren’t ready”  
“I am... I just feel so... nervous”  
“This is sex with someone you care for... my heart feels like it’s about to burst right out of my chest with how hard it’s racing”  
“Mine does too... If you want to stop...”  
“No. I want this. I want this with you”

Kissing Pike hungrily, the kisses progressed down from his lips. Nuzzling and nipping his neck, Keith mapped his way across his lover’s body with his lips. Other than his tail and ears, Pike’s body was for the most part human. There were scars here and there from stories he’d never know, too many for Keith’s heart to tolerate. Pike had had a hard life, despite what he’d say. It might not have had the same hardness as Keith’s, but that didn’t make Pike’s depression any less valid. Burying his head between Pike’s legs, he breathed in his lover’s musky scent as pressed a kiss to the root of Pike’s erection. It was thrilling to know Pike wanted him. He might not know much of how to do this, but Pike wouldn’t judge him for that, not when they were both as nervous as each other  
“You smell so fucking good”  
Letting his legs drop further open, Pike was a feast that Keith wasn’t sure how to start. Somehow oral sex felt so much more intimate than sex. Placing his mouth down there... something private that only lover’s did.

With a few tentative licks, Keith slowly gained the courage, his lips sinking down the crown of Pike’s penis drawing out a sweet moan from the man. Would it be weird to tell Pike how comfortable he felt in his mouth? Then again, he’d only taken the first inch and his mouth was starting to fill with saliva. Bobbing his head down, Keith nearly gagged, his nostrils flaring as he eased up. Above him, Pike let out a giggle, Keith shooting him a glare around his mouthful. He’d made his mind up. He was going to make him regret that.

Giving head wasn’t like sex. It excited him, his erecting hanging heavily between his legs as Lance thrust into his mouth. Pike’s hands were in his hair now, not holding him down, but fisting the locks noticeably. With hollowed cheeks, precum mixed with the drool escaping the corner of his mouth. His own hands on Lance’s hips to keep himself from jerking off. When he came, he wanted to come in his lover... after he’d brought Lance undone. He wolfing down his meal, planning the dessert before finishing his main  
“D-Dark...”  
Humming, Keith’s mouth was filled before he expected it. His eyes watering as he tried not choke, pulses of cum landing on his throat as he tried to swallow down the wet mess in his mouth. Sliding his head back until the just the tip remained in his mouth, Keith jerked the last drops from Pike as he lay limp beneath him. Pulling off with a wet plop, Keith kept some cum in his mouth, improvised lube that meant not having to stupidly figure out how things in this world worked  
“Roll over for me”

Pike rolled over with a groan, Keith taking him by the hips and pulling him up. Parting the valley of his arse, Keith let himself follow the remnants of the instincts his alpha had left him from all those otherwise useless ruts. Pressing his parted lips to the tight opening of his lover, he teased the ring with his tongue, Pike letting out a loud gasp as he gripped the blankets beneath him. He’d had no idea what to do with his fingers, that translated into the movements of his tongue as he worked out how to approach the situation. Breaching his lover’s opening, Pike’s cum ran from his mouth, his tongue pushing against the resistance as Pike pushed his arse back. Shit... it was a whole lot of other sensations that the intimate action brought. The softness replaced the hardness. The resistance his mouth had provided around Pike was now provided by his lover. Groaning he pushed his tongue deeper, working at trying to lick as he tired to fuck him. Pike’s pants began to mix with moans. Lusty and spent. Over stimulated and eager for it to go further. The meal beneath him leaving him burning... He wanted Pike. Like Keith wanted Lance, he as Dark wanted Pike... but not like this...

Flipping Pike back over, Keith pulled his legs up over his shoulders, Pike curved as Keith’s tongue delved back inside. When he didn’t overthink things, it all started coming more naturally. Lance opening around him, enough for Keith start working his fingers in, though that ruined being able to fuck him with his tongue the way he was. Shit... next time he’d have Pike ride his face... when he wasn’t as excited as he currently was. Satisfied with working two fingers relatively comfortably in the slick cum and saliva wetness, Keith pulled back, lowering Lance’s legs to wrap loosely around his hips, his hands running up Pike’s perfect smaller body   
“Pike?”  
“... ready...”  
He wanted a kiss first. He wanted to kiss his now boyfriend. Pike wasn’t simply his lover. “Boyfriend“ made his heart race again. Letting his hands run off of Pike’s shoulders Keith leaned up, nuzzling his boyfriend’s cheek, Pike not caring as he moved to kiss Keith, groaning as Keith’s erection rubbed at his arse. Breaking apart, Pike pulled a face  
“I taste terrible”  
Laughter bubbled up as Keith hid face against his boyfriend’s neck   
“I don’t think so”  
“Is that so?”  
“Yeah... if it’s too much...”  
“It’s not... whatever you give me, I’ll take. I want to feel my lover”  
“Your boyfriend... I want to be your boyfriend”  
Lance giggled, accidentally slapping Keith as he tried to find his face   
“Dark, you’re a fucking sap”  
“I’d rather be...”  
Keith’s mouth hurt, and it wasn’t just from sucking Pike off. The smile on his face was ridiculous   
“Don’t you dare finish that”  
“I’ll finish you”  
Pike giggled again, the sound was beautiful   
“As my boyfriend, I think you should make good on your promises”  
“Remember that when you can’t walk straight”  
“Promises, promises”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m soooooo regretting writing this as prompt list 😂😂😂 I kind of want to rewrite this as a full story where they’re all already living in the game verse.
> 
> Anyways. Thoughts and comments will always be appreciated. Much thanks to those still reading xx


	11. Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna put more of the adventure in, but my silly prompt list is killing me.
> 
> I’m sorry

Keith was sure he’d fallen asleep curled up in Pike’s arms. He was sure he and Pike had spent hours talking about nothing in particular as the traded whispers and kisses. Whether a game mechanic or the game in a hurry to send them to their deaths, the remainder of the week passed. When Keith came too he had his arm around Pike as they stood on the docks. Meklavar was beaming with excitement as they all stared down at the grey ship she expected them to board. Pike still had no headband, yet he now carried a blade on his hip. Dark earning some small sliver of gratitude over his foresight to arm Pike  
“Isn’t she great?!”  
“Uh. Yeah. If you like floating death. Meklavar, are you sure they’re going to give us passage and not just throw us over board once they’ve robbed us?”  
“Come on, Block! Look at it! A ship this size has to have treasure! Gyro, don’t you think it’s job as a Paladin to give these sailors guidance?”  
Gyro was too busy glaring at Keith as he watched the party from the corner of his eye. His boyfriend was holding his hold. His eyes open and wide, such a brilliant shade of blue... He shouldn’t be dating Pike... but he wanted to. He wanted this. If he never got to have his time with Lance, he’d have this with Pike... No. When they got out of here, he was going to listen to his alpha and he was going to tell Lance he was an absolute idiot... and that he wanted to date for real. Lance was going to need a lot of care and careful monitoring once he came out of his drop. He may have already been left unable to conceive due to his red heat, which would devastate the omega further.

“Dark, might I speak with you for a moment?”  
Looking to Vala, Vala was winking at him, and not in the subtle way. The way she was trying to tell him she was Allura subtly, but as she was using half her damn face to wink Meklavar frowned at her  
“Did you get something in your eye?”  
Allura stopped winking  
“No, not at all. I need to speak with Dark, excuse us a moment”  
Moving behind the others, Allura took hold of his arm and towed him a good few metres from the party  
“Don’t worry, it’s me, Allura. I bet you couldn’t tell”  
“Your winking gave me a fair hint. What happened to not making things obvious?”  
“I was being subtle by winking”  
“You were winking big enough that Meklavar asked if you had something in your eye. That wasn’t very subtle”  
“I was too. Now tell me what’s going on? Where are we?”  
Keith shrugged. Remembering he was talking to Allura was going to take some time to get used to  
“Your guess is as good as mine. We’re about to take a ship captained by a man calling himself Zarkoff because Meklavar thinks it’s a good idea. Pike needs to drop the Yalexian Pearl to the castle and then we can all get out”  
“Yalexian Pearls are quite large... But first, are you sure that’s Pike?”  
Keith frowned at his team mate  
“Of course that’s Pike”  
“Are you sure though. He didn’t look like that the last time we played. His facial markings were much bolder, he was much more cat like and wore a tattered red scarf like cloak. He also wore a silver ring and gold bracelet around his wrist. I don’t see any of the legendary items the rest of the team collected either...”  
“It’s definitely him. I’ve been talking to him... long story short, he and I are dating. Gyro hates it. Meklavar is pretty much Pidge when someone doesn’t out there to bed, and Block mostly agrees with her”  
“You’re dating him? Keith, what were you thinking?”  
“I was thinking with my heart instead of my head. You don’t know what it’s been like for him”  
“But he’s not your Lance, he’s Pike. Are you sure it’s smart? Are you able to finish the game, now that you’re dating him?”  
“Allura, I really, really, really like him”  
“You like Lance. Lance isn’t Pike. The game isn’t like that”  
“Pike is Lance. He remembers things that we went through. The game fills in the gaps and twists things to make him believe he’s been here his whole life”  
“Isn’t it cruel? What is he going to say when he wakes up?”

Keith wanted to scream, or at the very least shake Allura by the shoulders. Didn’t she think these things weighed heavy on his heart as it was? Taking a deep breath, he forced his anger down, trying to make her understand   
“I don’t know. But... I want to get to know him, even if it doesn’t make sense because this only one part of him. He’s not going to talk to me if I’m acting like a jerk towards him. I’m trying to figure out how to tell him everything happening without doing so at the same time. If he thinking’s it’s not in the game he’ll throw both of us. He threw me out with a scream the first time, and if we get thrown out again, he might not let us back in”  
“I don’t like this. I think it’s cruel”  
“What’s cruel is how we treated him”  
“And out of nowhere you’re suddenly dating him. How is he going to feel when he finds it all a lie?”  
“It’s... it’s not all a lie”  
“You showed no interest in pursuing him before”  
“Because I wasn’t ready... I didn’t understand how I liked him until I saw him... I still didn’t understand until I talked with Shiro, Krolia and Coran. I quiznakked everything up, and... if these are going to be Lance’s final days, I want to make him so happy that he’ll want to live. I don’t think he’s intentionally hurt himself in game, but he doesn’t value his life. He’s depressed, Allura. He’s constantly waiting to be kicked off the team”  
Allura kicked the wooden planking beneath her foot  
“I don’t like it. Tell me what else I need to know?”  
“The ship we’re going is captained by a man calling himself Zarkoff... and it’s what you’d expect of a Galra ship. Meklavar nearly spilt the party in two over it. Block gets seasick. Gyro isn’t... he’s Kuron, not Shiro. Every time Pike gets a bad feeling, something bad actually happens. You weren’t Vala so you went ahead and said we’re taking the ship. I somehow lost 4 days with Pike. He’s got his eyes open again, but there’s probably some lingering sensitivity. We’re supposed to be on this ship for six weeks”  
Allura hummed, then clicked her fingers  
“Why don’t I summon us a mystical mount?! That’d be so much faster than a ship”  
“A what now?”  
“I am the Mystical Archer of Valayun”  
“You’re what now?”  
“Keith, you’ve been in the game how long, and you don’t know?”  
“In my defence, all you guys have done is not believe in Pike. You helped out in the next battle, and that’s about it. I’ve been stabbing things and Pike’s been recovering... Except for at the start. Gryo got hurt fighting the Coranic Dragon... And I got poisoned by the bandits”  
“In the original game Shiro was eaten by a giant mouse, after the mice tried to join the game. I don’t believe his second character had a name, but Gyro was Shiro’s twin looking to avenge his master”  
Keith groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose  
“I don’t think I can handle another world to keep up with. If you know how to get that bunch to do stuff then go ahead. I’ll keep Lance busy but don’t forget...”  
“I must remain in character”  
“That and don’t go winking... Can you pretend to be Vala long enough that I can run a quick errand?”  
Allura puffed her chest out with pride as Keith felt his stomach drop. This wasn’t going to be fun...   
“Of course I can!”

Jogging along the docks, and up the Seawall street, Keith then plunged himself into the markets. Vendors might have things for every quest imaginable, but not the one he was on. He didn’t have the time to scour every stall, nor did he have the patience. No one wanted to sell him a head band, because apparently that wasn’t a thing, or at least not when you were in a hurry because you’d left your boyfriend waiting and your teammate unsupervised with the characters in his head. Finding a tailor was bad enough. The short “Bob” like man tried his patience as Keith explained he wanted a headband... and not one for a girl with bows or flowers. So frustrated by the end of it, Keith bought a strip of deep red fabric, then stole the man’s cotton and needle off his desk as he ran. Sewing couldn’t be that hard and the arsehole had brought it on himself really. Without pockets, Keith stuffed the items into his coin bag, hoping Pike wouldn’t be too curious about where he’d been when he returned.

Keith found he needn’t have worried over Pike’s curiosity at his absence. Vala had engaged him in conversation while Meklavar was talking to Block about her axe. Trying to appear as if he had just stolen anything, Keith slipped up behind Pike, his boyfriend jumping as he wrapped his arms around his waist   
“You’re back!”  
“I am. I hope Vala wasn’t leading you astray”  
“Not at all... She said she’s going to summon a mount so we don’t have to board that ship”  
Leaning his head back against Keith’s shoulder, Pike’s eyes were closed  
“Is the light hurting your eyes?”  
“A bit... after having a week with them closed, it’s strange to have them open again. I think they’re still healing”  
“I can take a look, if you want?”  
“Nah. It’ll be fine. What do you think about flying? We’ll get there much faster”  
“I think if you want to fly, then that’s what we’ll do. Neither of us really wanted to go on that ship”

“We’re going by ship. We already decided this”  
Tryst Gyro to butt in where he wasn’t wanted, and trust him to alert Meklavar and Block to the change in plans  
“What was that about the ship?”  
Meklavar might be short, but she was fierce as she held her axe  
“Vala suggested a magical mount instead of taking a ship. We’ll get there a lot faster”  
“But the ship is right there”  
“Think about it. We could fly right to where we need to go, or at least closer to our destination”  
“If it’s that easy, why didn’t you mention this weeks ago? We wouldn’t have had to put up with all this walking”  
“My magic needed time to recharge. Shall I summon a mount?”  
“We’re taking the ship”  
Replying flatly, Gryo’s hand went to the sword on his hips. Keith pulling Pike away from the angry Paladin, as Allura stepped forward   
“I know I agreed, but I wasn’t sure my magic would rejuvenate in time. There’s no need for violence”  
Keith really was the worst possible person in the group to have been the one sucked in first by the game. Pike was shaking against him, head against Keith’s chest. How he hadn’t ruined things as it was, he had no idea  
“Hey, it’s alright. Vala knows what she’s doing”  
“I don’t want everyone to fight”  
“Vala is befuddled!”

Gryo drew his sword, the blade bright with flame. Meklavar and Block gaping at their party members  
“I am no such thing! Gyro, please, this is against your Paladin code!”  
“We agreed we’re travelling on the ship. We’ll be travelling on the ship together. That cowardly whore of a cat is messing with your heads! He is bad news, and always has been! We should have taken the pearl by force and slain him before he caused all these issues!”  
Gyro lunged towards Pike, Meklavar letting out a scream as Keith pushed Pike out the way as he went for his left sword  
“Block, cast shield!”  
Between him and Gyro a green light appeared, Gyro’s downward blow stopping his attack... Block could do that?!  
“Quick, now cast sleep on him! We can’t let him hurt anyone!”  
“We’re going on the ship! And that cat is...!”  
Waving his staff, Block chanted, Gyro going for him as Meklavar interceded, using her axe to take the downward swing. Gyro started to sway on his feet, raised his sword to slash down again  
“Now cast bind! Vala, summon a mystic mount! We need to leave before the town guards come!”  
Firing an arrow into the air, what came through the weird blue portal wasn’t a flying mount, but a giant yellow mouse...  
“Platt?!? Oh, no! Everyone, get on! I’ll summon something better once we’re out of town!”

Keith wished he didn’t find riding on the back of a mouse that resemble Platt as normal as he did. Vala sat at the front, Gyro laying between her and Meklavar, followed by Block, then finally Pike in his safe hold as Platt dashed through town, causing chaos as he ran. Allura had said a “flying mount”, not a giant mouse that scared the town’s inhabitants causing not only things to go flying, but people too as they rushed out of way. Crossing through town and dashing into the forest, Keith kept his face against Pike’s shoulder, feeling a kind of second hand embarrassment for the archer of their party  
“Vala, turn right! We need to reach the mountains!”  
What no one considered was the size of the river between the side they were on and the side they needed to be on. Platt making it to the rivers edge where they were all nearly thrown off as he came up short  
“Yes, you have to cross it! We have to get away as soon as possible!”  
Platt squeaked his disagreement, pointing at the river as he grew louder  
“You can do it!”  
“Vala, I don’t want to rush you, but the town guard is going to be after us and I don’t know how long Gyro’s going to stay down!”  
“Tell that to Platt! Dark, can you see them?!”  
Keith turned to look back over his shoulder, Platt had left a trail of destruction after him  
“No, but they’ve got a direct route here. We need to move!”  
Allura nudged her heels into Platt who squeaked indignantly   
“Platt! Come on...”  
“I’ll slow them down...”  
What now? Pike started trying to slide from Platt, Keith not letting go  
“Pike, you can’t...”  
Nope. Pike wasn’t doing that. He was perfectly fine where he was in Keith’s arms  
“I have to do something”  
“No, you don’t have to. Vala, try summoning something more useful!”  
Platt reared, pointing and squeaking again. Allura scolding him  
“I know it’s deep, but you can swim!”  
Pike’s ears flicked, his tail starting to flick back and forth at the tip  
“They’re coming!”  
“I’ve got this!”

Raising her axe, Meklavar used the tip of the corner to poke Platt in the side, the mouse letting out a tremendous squeak before leaping into the water. Against him, Pike was thrown back by the movement, Keith barely holding on as he gripped the mouses fat sides  
“Whoa, there. Don’t go falling off”  
“With you watching my back, never”  
Meklavar faked a gag  
“You two are gross. And don’t anyone thank me”  
“Sorry, Meklavar! That was wonderful! Good job, team! To the mountains!”

Platt made it four fifths of the way across before vanishing from beneath them. Thrown suddenly into the frigid water, Pike disappeared from his hold. Struggling to swim for it, Vala and Block had more of a struggle as Block tried to keep Meklavar and her armour from disappearing in the fast current  
“Where’s Pike?!”  
“He was with you! Help me with Meklavar!”  
“I have to find Pike”  
“He can swim! Meklavar can’t in her armour!”  
Like Keith was fairing much better in his. Trying to kick his legs felt ridiculously hard, leather not known for its water friendliness or buoyant capabilities as doggy paddled over to gab Meklavar by her shoulder plate   
“We have to find Pike!”  
“No, need! He’s made it to shore!”  
Unable to see, Keith took Allura’s word for it as their party struggled out of the water, Meklavar grumbling the whole time she was towed along. Dwarves could swim, provided they weren’t wearing their weight in armour, Keith learning Pidge was a dwarf, which he hadn’t known. He’d thought maybe she just supposed to be short and didn’t like to mention it. As they reached the shore of the river, Pike waded out to help pull Meklavar in, who seemed to have half the river in her armour. Brushing them off crankily, Pike withdrew to help Vala with Shiro, who’d also seemed to get half the river in his armour   
“Phew! Sorry about that guys! I was sure Platt would make it”  
Meklavar grumbled   
“Whatever a “Platt” is, I don’t like it. We should have sailed. Ugh. My armour is gross. Block, tell me you have a spell for this?”  
“Maybe. Possibly. I can’t think of one”  
“Yes, well, while we think about it, how about we get off the banks of the river? We need to make sure Gyro doesn’t wake up. Block, recast bind on him. Perhaps he’s still enchanted?”  
Meklavar snorted at Vala  
“He’s not enchanted, he’s had his boyfriend taken by Pike. I thought you were summoning a flying mount?”  
“So did I. We should start moving”

Cold leather armour chaffed between Keith’s... everywhere. Pike had taken his cloak off, wringing it out, then trying to wrap it around Keith’s shoulders to keep him “warm”. Being the strongest in the group, Keith had Gyro over his shoulder now, with what Gyro was wearing and his weight, he should have been struggling more with that than his armour. To keep Gyro away from his sword, Pike was carrying it, unable to draw it from its sheath as he wasn’t a Paladin. Hiking through the woods until Meklavar got cranky, they were all less than happy as they made camp in the first clearing they found. Allura finding the energy to attempt to be perky   
“I’ll help Meklavar with her armour. Block, can you start a small fire so we can dry our clothes out? Pike and Dark will help you”  
“Noooope. Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll take care of my robes myself. I don’t have enough magic to cleanse myself of the memory of the sounds those two make”  
Keith shot Block a filthy look. If he was going to be that way, then Keith didn’t want to help him. Taking Pike by the hand, Keith started towards the closest bunch of shrubs  
“Pike and I will be over here”

Free from the prying eyes of the others, Keith took Pike’s face in his hands   
“Are you okay? You disappeared so suddenly that I was scared the current had swept you away”  
“It did, a little, but I swam to the bank on an angle. I don’t even remember doing it... I’m sorry I left you...”  
“It’s fine. As long as you weren’t hurt”  
“I wasn’t. Are you?”  
“No, but this armour doesn’t feel great”  
“Let’s get out of them then... I can’t believe Vala was able to summon a mount”  
“I can’t believe Gyro thought we’d let him swing his sword at you”  
“Wouldn’t be the first time”  
Pike’s eyes widened at the information that slipped from his mouth   
“I mean at training... when we trained together. Not how it sounded”  
Liar. Had Keith not been so uncomfortable, he would have pulled him up on it   
“Right. Let’s get undressed. Do you need help?”  
“No, we’ll get your leather off first. I’m mentally cringing at how uncomfortable it must be”  
“It’s not great”

Lance has the patience to remove the pieces of leather that Keith didn’t. Keith helping his boyfriend strip until they were both in their underwear. That jerk Dark hadn’t fixed the holes in his boots, Keith cursing him as he brought their gear over to dry near the fire, as everyone was in their underwear, they had the good graces not to look. The remaining problem in the situation was Gyro, laying bound near the fire. Block’s spell was in place, Block also casting sleep back on Gyro meaning that Gyro couldn’t strip himself. Pike insisted he’d take care of it, as if Gyro remained in his armour he could fall ill. Meklavar, Block and Allura agreeing. Keith not. That wasn’t happening. Gyro could be faking being asleep for all Keith knew and Pike could be attacked again. His boyfriend was hurt by his decision to strip Gyro down with the help of Block. Pike misreading it as something it wasn’t. He wasn’t attracted to his brother, nor was it an excuse to feel him up. He’d rather not be stripping Gyro if he could help it, but the circumstances called for it, and Keith couldn’t help the distaste on his lips as he and Block started on the Paladin armour which was much like their regular armour to put on.

Spared being soaked by his under suit, Keith sighed with relief that he didn’t need to go all the way with Gyro, Block sighing his relief as he settled back by the fire, his back to the rest of the team. Not bothering to stand, Keith crawled over to Pike, laying his head on his boyfriend’s leg as Pike came out of whatever though chain he’d been lost in  
“Gyro all good?”  
“Yeah. His suit kept him from getting wet”  
“Oh, that’s good”  
“Pike, I’m not in love with him”  
“I... know...”  
“I’m sorry it made you uncomfortable. Is that what you were thinking about?”  
“That and wondering if not going on the ship was the right course of action”  
“We can’t go back”  
“I know... can I ask you something, without you getting angry?”  
Keith sighed to himself, knowing whatever Pike was going to ask wasn’t going to be something he wanted to think about   
“Yeah. Of course, you can”  
“When you were sleeping with Gryo, did you notice anything weird about him?”  
Having not slept with Gyro, Keith didn’t have the right answers, leaving him to carefully reply   
“Not that I know of. Our... relationship... wasn’t like that”  
“Oh...”  
“Why do you ask?”  
“It’s probably silly, but I was wondering if maybe Gyro was still hurt from fighting the Coranic Dragon. He... he turned his blade against us... and... you. He’d never hurt you, but he still swung. He tried to hurt Meklavar...”  
“You’re over thinking things. Gyro’s all butt hurt because you stole his lover away. He’s cranky because he’s not in control of the situation. Stop thinking about things if you’re not going to help”  
“Meklavar! That was incredulous rude”  
Allura scolded Meklavar, Lance wincing at her voice   
“I don’t know if I think Pike is over thinking things. He did come at us too... he didn’t look much like Gyro”  
Meklavar groaned as Block agreed with Pike  
“Obviously he was upset because Vala didn’t mention she could summon mystical mounts. It’s a pretty big thing to forget”  
“We’ve all had a lot on our minds. It’s not like travelling is easy”  
“That’s why I wanted to take the ship. We wouldn’t have had to worry about walking”  
“But we don’t have a map for the other side of the mountains. We don’t know how easy it would have been to find a way up”  
“Well maybe Vala would have figured a way up there, and Gyro wouldn’t be like this now”  
“I’m just saying, everyone’s been acting differently lately...”

Pike squirmed beneath him. Keith sitting up to wrap his arm around his boyfriend as Pike tensed  
“Hey, no one is mad at you”  
“Maybe they should be”  
“You haven’t done anything wrong”  
“I’m sorry... I think I want to take a walk around the clearing”  
“Do you...”  
“Alone”  
Pike’s one word reply didn’t leave space for Keith to answer. Climbing out of his hold, his boyfriend walked away from the camp with both his ears and his tail down, hugging himself firmly as he did.

“Where’s Pike going?”  
“He’s going for a walk. We’ll be here a while, while our armour dries”  
Answering Allura, Keith draw his knees to his chest. If he and Pike had stayed hidden, he wouldn’t have to sit here near naked. He didn’t know where the underwear had come from, as he very clearly remembered not having any before now. The only reasons he could think was that Lance didn’t want them all to be naked under their respective armour sets, or the game had some kind of group censorship. Either way, he was grateful he wasn’t sitting so close to the rest of the team wearing nothing. None of them had anything he wanted to see, other than Pike and he had first dibs on seeing him as much as he liked   
“He could be right you know, there could be something wrong with Gyro”  
“I keep telling you, he’s upset because Dark broke his heart”  
“I’m not entirely sure that is the case, Meklavar”  
“And since when are you the expert on a broken heart? If anyone here is acting strange, it’s you, Vala. You should have summoned a mount earlier. We could have been at the foothills of the mountains by now”  
“My magic was recharging”  
“It’s been a week”  
“Yes, well, sometimes it does take a time to regain mana. Block, do you also finds it takes time for mana to regenerate?”  
“Sometimes. Especially if I’m using big spells. That forest did not help either. Who would have thought Weabloanian’s would mess with our magic so badly? No wonder their organs made us so much gold... Man, I wish we’d thought to buy more food”  
“Block, don’t even start. We don’t have any food because we were supposed to be on the ship. This is Vala’s fault”  
“How is this my fault?”  
Allura sounded as if Meklavar had slapped her instead of calling her out   
“You summoned a giant mouse!”  
“Gyro was making a scene before I did”  
“You still did it! Now I’m never going to get the gold we paid for our passage back!”  
“I’ll pay it back when we kill our next beast. What comes next from here?”  
“The Bridge of Blood. It’s half way through the forest over the Dragon Chasm...”

Meklavar sighed her answer. Keith wanted to tune both her and Vala out, but they both needed the intel. Somewhere other there was his boyfriend, who probably knew all of this thanks to the game, but was completely clueless at the same time. Pike may have found his way out of the river intact, yet Keith couldn’t help worry he’d accidentally summon some new calamity upon them because of his sad mood. Alarmed, Allura replied   
“That doesn’t sound particularly pleasant”  
“No shit. We each have to give some blood to the wraiths that guards the bridge. If our sins are too great then we can’t cross. They say the chasm is filled with bones of crooked adventures”  
That didn’t sound like something they should be doing... two people pretending to be someone they were. Pike... thought breathing seemed to be a crime. Gyro... that was complicated. Block... might pass, or be doomed to eternity because he and Meklavar were still being controlled by someone else  
“Maybe we should fly over? What comes after that? Is it something more pleasant?”  
“Gyro’s right, you’re acting strange. Are you sure you haven’t been befuddled?”  
Vala gave a nervous laugh   
“It’s the excitement of our dash on the back of Platt. It’s completely driven the plans ahead from my head now I can summon animals again”  
“And they call Block the blockhead. The Quite Plains are after that”  
Allura snorted  
“The Quite Plains? Are you sure they didn’t mean the Quiet Plains?”  
“No. Why wouldn’t they call them the “Quiet Plains? if they were quite? They say the Quite Plains are every shade of pink you can imagine. Nomadic and Barbaric tribes wander the area. They once sent an exploratory team to write of their beautiful but the leader described them as hardly living up to the hype, and named them the Quite Plains instead”  
“That sounds so pretty. I’m definitely in favour of stopping there”  
“But it’s pink”  
Meklavar sounded disgusted, Allura was gushing over a place filled with her favourite colour   
“Now, now. A place like that can hardly be boring. There may be all kinds of rare crystals to find if adventurers rarely make it past the bridge, and all kinds of other treasures”  
“The tribe there is supposed to be really annoying”  
“We can always leave if we don’t like it. We’ve been travelling a while, it’d be nice to see something different from all these trees”  
“I am getting sick of trees...”  
“Excellent! We’ll camp here tonight, our clothes will probably take that long to dry, and we’ll make sure Gyro is alright before continuing. It’ll give us time to bond as a party”  
“We’re already pretty bonded, just ask Pike and Dark how bonded they are. I never thought I’d see the day that Dark dumped Gyro for Pike. He’s hitting waaaaaay below his league with that one”

Keith bit his tongue as he tightened his hands into fists. His first instinct and desire was to protect his boyfriend, yet Allura was now seeing what they were up against with Meklavar’s mentality  
“What makes you say that?”  
“Come on, Vala. We all know how useless Pike is. Last battle he got himself blinded and made Dark take of him. Before that he left Dark get poisoned. He’s loud, and always in your face. When Block and I are trying to do anything he won’t leave us alone. Then there was that pathetic crush he had on you, which he suddenly decided he had when you had a boyfriend. Aaaand he was sleeping with Dark, when he knew Dark was committed to Gyro. If the stupid pearl wasn’t soul bound, then we could have left him behind already”  
“Pike isn’t like that at all. Honestly Meklavar. Remember how many times he’s helped us all in the past. He distracted the Coranic dragon for us. He always made sure we were alright. He might not be that smart, but he’s always trying his hardest... He... he died to save me. He might be loud, sometimes too loud, but he’s part of our party. He’s our friend. He’d be the first to help any of us if we needed it”  
“Now you sound like Dark”  
“Yes, well, perhaps Dark has a point. I don’t think we’ve been very good friends to Pike, and I for one am going to apologise to him... when he comes back. Dark, will Pike be alright on his own?”  
Keith started standing, sitting around was getting to him. They still had the whole day ahead of him, and camping for the night seemed a waste  
“He can handle himself, but I might go find him anyway”  
“He’s off to make out with his boyfriend.... ooooh”  
Meklavar’s comment was begging for a retort, Keith ignoring the urge to flip her off as he headed off to find Pike. It’d give Allura time to gather more information on the situation, then maybe she could formulate a better plan on how to proceed in this fantasy world.

Finding Pike wasn’t hard, he was walking through the woods as if he had far too much on his mind. Knowing he was going to startle him anyway, Keith opted for cutting in front of his path rather than sneaking up from behind. Hissing, Pike leapt back, before clutching at his chest  
“Don’t do that to me!”  
“Sorry, I was trying not to scare you”  
“Well you did. What are doing out here?”  
“Can’t a simple Barbarian come see how his rogue of a boyfriend is doing?”  
“I’m a thief, not just a rogue. And there’s nothing simple when it comes to you. Seriously, I felt 8 of my 9 lives leave my body”  
“That’s not my fault. You were off in the clouds”  
“I was thinking about setting traps around camps... but then I started thinking about you and before I knew it, there you were”  
“Awww, babe. You were thinking about me?”  
Pike rolled his eyes, stepping forwards to punch Keith in the shoulder  
“You’re kind of hard not to think about”  
Slinging his arm over Pike’s shoulder, Pike let himself lean into Keith  
“I’ll take that as compliment. Should I take that as a compliment?”  
“You wouldn’t if you knew what I was thinking about”  
Pike’s tone was joking, an easy familiarity that tugged on his heart  
“Well I’m here now. Wanna take a walk?”  
“There’s not much to see...”  
“That’s fine. I like spending time with you”  
“You do?”

Keith stumbled his step as he frowned. Why wouldn’t he? He’d made his interest in Pike as clear as he could... unless...  
“Yeah, I do. Don’t tell me you were thinking I was thinking about Gyro”  
“It’s kind of hard not to...”  
“Pike, you don’t have to worry about anything between the two of us. I promise”  
“But... aren’t you...”  
“Aren’t I, what?”  
“Worried? He really didn’t... he was acting weird... and... I didn’t think you’d want to leave him”  
Oh... right... Gyro was real to Pike... Gyro was also real to Keith, except in a completely different way. He supposed not staying by Gyro was going against his character  
“We won’t learn anything from him until Block’s spell wears off. Right now, I’m where I want to be. Gyro is safe with everyone else...”  
“But... didn’t it freak you out? The way he just snapped like that?”  
For Gyro, yeah. It was extreme. For Kuron based on Lance’s fears, not so much  
“It did. I thought for sure he was going to hurt you”  
“I did too... if... if it helped him, maybe it would have been better he did”  
“Don’t say that. Whatever Gyro is going through, it’s not on you. Him taking it out on you isn’t right. For any reason, in any reality”  
“You say the weirdest things... But seriously, I want to... I want to do something to help him. But he hates me. He hated me before I took you away from him”  
“You didn’t take me away. I’m my own person, and I choose you. I choose you here. I choose you out there. I choose to get to know you, and choose to see where this goes, with you”  
“I’m sorry... this is probably harder for you than you’re letting show, and I’m probably only making things worse by harping on about myself. Dark, if you’re not okay, it’s okay... and if you need some time to think, I don’t mind”  
“I’m not like Block and Vala, I can’t use magic to help him. At the moment he’s better off with them...”

He hadn’t been able to reach the Shiro in Kuron... he’d barely been able to recover his brother. As the man closest to him, he should have known something wasn’t right. He should have known and he didn’t. He was too caught up with having Shiro back, to even consider that it was a long term play by Honerva. He’d pushed himself to the extreme, and nearly lost him all over again. Gyro was a character in Lance’s head, but he couldn’t deny that he saw Shiro in him. It was hard not to when Shiro looked the closest to his natural form... and was a Paladin on top of that. Maybe... he did care more than he was prepared to admit? Maybe... maybe if they could “uncover” something like a curse or whatever the game called it, Gyro would be Shiro again?

“Hey, I’m here, okay. If you want to go sit with him...”  
“No. I was just... I was just thinking about how this could have happened”  
The ship had to have been a trap... meaning Gyro was planning on handing them over? If so, then... the game was more in control of Gyro than the others? So that would mean they’d have to fight Gyro?  
“I don’t know. Lately I feel like I don’t know much of anything anymore”  
“I know what you mean. It’s like closing your eyes and waking up in a different world”  
Pike’s reply wasn’t immediately, his boyfriend’s voice a whisper  
“If this was a different world, would you still choose me?”

He was a quiznakking idiot in their reality. Feelings buried too deep had now come to life, making him realise everything he’d done wrong. But at the same time, he didn’t know that his actions were hurting Lance as deeply as they had. He could throw himself out the nearest airlock for telling Lance that he didn’t want to spend an eternity with him. Not when Lance had said he though he was the future. Lance had always seen the best in him, even if jealousy had marred Lance’s every interaction with him initially. It couldn’t have been easy for him to be constantly compared to Keith after he’d dropped out. There was little wonder that Lance felt angry towards him, as he’d pretty much been groomed that way by the Garrison. Neither of them were the same scared brats they’d been when they’d found Blue. And he wasn’t the same man who’d come back from two years on the space whale with his mother and vision after vision of a future with Lance. When he finally got back to reality he was going to have to apologise for calling his alpha a dumb beast as often as he had. 

“Yeah... that’s easy. You make me feel... like what I’ve been looking for in life you’ve already been giving me all along and I haven’t even noticed it before now”  
Lance hummed before replying   
“That’s heavy. You’re much better with your words than I remember you being”  
“That’s because I was a jerk”  
“Not always”  
“More then enough that it’s a miracle you’d let me in”  
“I think I’d always let you in... I don’t know about the others, but I’ve always thought you were more capable than you let yourself see”  
“That goes for you, too”  
“Tell that to my stupid depression”  
“I am. But don’t forget, a wiseman once told me that “it’s okay not to be okay””  
Pike snorted out a laugh   
“He sounds like a wanker”  
“He has his moments...”  
Pike nudged him with his shoulder playfully  
“Rude”  
“I didn’t say what moments they were. Anyway, how was that giant mouse that Vala summoned?”  
“Insane! Did you see that thing?! I wonder if she’s named all her mystical mounts?”  
Pike took the subject change for what it was. The previous line of conversation had run its ground. Kissing his boyfriend’s hair, the mood felt lighter  
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her. Maybe you can ask her to actually summon a proper mount this time?”  
“I wonder if she’ll summon that flying horse again. That thing was cool”  
“I have no idea. We’ve decided to skip the Bridge of Blood, and go straight to the Quite Plains. Meklavar’s pissed because everything is supposed to be pink”  
“Damn, I wish I hadn’t left so soon. Maybe Meklavar will find some treasure there?”  
“I have no idea...”  
Pike started talking about treasure and the possibilities that lay ahead for the party as Keith watched him from the corner of his eye. Allura was going to be good for Pike, once she apologised and admitted she was wrong to hide his death. Until that happened, Keith was sure he’d continue to struggle with accepting her properly into the party... He might not have his alpha, but he’d been with his alpha so long that he still made the conclusion of what it’d think or say... and unfortunately, he wasn’t sure he could he think any other way.


	12. Miscommunication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sighs dramatically   
> People... talk to me?

Keith had decided he was hopeless at games. He knew from the castle that that wasn’t his strength, but Allura was definitely finding it easier to adapt than he had. She knew how to direct the party, and she seemed to know how to keep in character. When Pike and Dark had returned, she’d already sent Meklavar and Block to hunt for food, the pair returning with various berries, nuts and forest fruits, after lunch it was decided they nap, then instead of waiting for morning they’d leave to fly straight to the Quite Plains once they’d woken. For all her smartness, she, like Keith was, we’re caught off guard.

When Keith had fallen asleep, Pike had been curled up against him. One hand curled and over his eyes as his boyfriend purred softly. Content and safe, they hadn’t thought about what would happen if Block’s spell wore off while they slept. They soon found out they were incredibly stupid to let their guards down. When he’d woken, he found the bindings that’d been around Gyro on the ground, Gyro’s sword gone, along with its wielder and Pike. The fire that’d been left burning had been stomped out, but their clothes untouched, as were their weapons. Keith felt physically sick as he called for his boyfriend, knowing that Gyro had to have taken him. Pike would have put up a struggle. He had to have. He wouldn’t simply let himself be carted away, unless Gyro had threatened him.

Waking the others, Meklavar and Block were both shocked as Vala filled them in. Keith too busy trying to fit himself back into his leather armour and look for signs of Gyro at the same time. Block‘s apologised profusely, though it felt more as if he was apologising for letting Gyro down when he was obviously wasn’t well, rather than letting Gyro kidnap Pike. Meklavar was shocked, then angered as Pike carried the Pearl and their end reward had now been stolen away. As Keith slipped his swords into their sheaths, Allura broke away from Meklavar and Block to come to him, taking him by the arm to move him away from their two team mates   
“Keith, we need to get Lance back. If Gyro hurts him in game, then anything could happen”  
“Tell me something I don’t know”  
“I know you’re worried, but I need you to stay focused. Did Pike or Gyro mention anything at all that would explain why this happening?”  
“No. I don’t know how this game works, I don’t know how to get him back”  
“Okay. Okay. Why would Gyro take Pike away? If he wanted to kill him, why wouldn’t he do it here? And if Gyro wanted to him earlier, why not take him in town where he had a chance to escape?”  
“I don’t know”  
“Keith...”  
“I don’t know, Allura. I don’t. I don’t know how to play this game. I never played it with you. Pike and I fell asleep then woke up on the day we were leaving. I don’t remember how we got to the docks”  
Great. He felt as useless as he did when he found Lance in his drop. He’d been so careful about staying by Lance’s side that he’d let his guard stupidly drop. Of all the times not to be watching over Pike, he’d fucking let himself nap instead of staying awake  
“Then that must mean Lance has some form of control... so maybe Gyro couldn’t?”  
“I don’t know”  
“I’m thinking out loud here. What if the game thought that Lance was too close to forgiving Pike?”  
“Then that would mean the game would have to know what’s going on in our heads too. I keep seeing Shiro in Gyro, no matter how much he acts like Kuron...”  
“Then what if Lance sees Kuron as a kind of boss? And the game has turned him into one? Or maybe because Coran turned out to be the bad guy, Lance is projecting that onto Gyro?”  
Keith shook his head. He didn’t know how to tell Allura he didn’t know apart from telling her and he already had  
“Okay. How about this then, why would Gyro take Pike?”  
“I don’t know. He could turn around and say Pike was trying to leave? But when I was talking to Pike earlier I was thinking that maybe the ship was a trap. Maybe the game wanted us on board that ship and it’s changed the rules because you came in and changed how things work?”  
“That’d mean he was trying to keep you two apart because he already intended on handing him over... the pearl! Meklavar was closer to being right than we thought. The game comes to an end when we hand that pearl over. If Gyro sells Pike on, or hands him over to the bad guys, the game can’t end. With a flying mount it makes things much easier for us to reach the end... but the game is feeding off your quintessence. It can’t do that if we all get out of here”  
“So you’re saying we’ll have to fight Gyro?”  
“Not if I can heal him. If I use a healing arrow it should purify Gyro”  
“You can do that?”  
“Maybe. I am supposed to be a mystical archer. We really need an opening to bring the others in. They’d know how to work their characters better than I do”  
“You heard Meklavar earlier. She’s been like that the whole time I’ve been in game with her”  
“Poor Lance! It must have been horrible”  
“Block and Gyro aren’t much better... then there’s time I’m missing, so I have no idea how Vala and Dark treated him”  
“I hate to say it, but I think you were right to date Pike... Gyro is a bit of dick”

Keith raised an eyebrow at Allura calling Gyro a “dick”. Allura calling anyone something like that was a complete shock to the system. Allura could be fierce, but name calling seemed below the Princess. There was something more “human” about her without the mantle of Paladin and Princess. He needed Allura to be fierce and focused, because he definitely was comprised by his feelings   
“That doesn’t help us. He’s gone and I have no idea how to get him back”  
“I’ll summon a new mount. We’ll be faster than Gyro”  
“Not if the game’s helping Gyro... they could be anywhere”  
“Then we don’t have a moment to lose. I feel sick thinking of how Pike must have been feeling...”  
“Then try thinking about how Lance felt. We’re all supposed to be based on how we treated him”  
“I know... I feel awful. That’s why we’re going to get him back, and I’m going to apologise to him”  
“We all need to apologise to him...”  
Allura placed her hand on his shoulder, Keith feeling lost despite Allura having some kind of plan   
“We’ll get him back. Lance’s character is a thief, there are no bindings he can’t get out of”  
“That might be the case, but he’s... he’ll sacrifice himself if he thinks that’s the best outcome for the party... he thinks he’s a burden, this is only going to make it worse”  
“Then we’ll get there before anything can happen. I have an idea”

The mount Allura summoned this time was a wolf. A much larger and much fiercer looking version of Kosmo. Kosmo’s presence brought with him all the feelings he had over missing his wolf. Kosmo was to Keith what he felt Kaltenecker was to Lance. A friendship that he couldn’t explain but still existed. Proud of herself, Vala climbed up first, leaning down to offer him her hand. Meklavar climbed up behind him without help, as Block had to talk himself into trusting Vala before he finally climbed up behind them. Nudging “Kosmo” into action, the summoned beast didn’t need direction. Playing a Barbarian seemed to be a rip off when Allura could summon animals to aid them... yet hearing the good traits of a Barbarian, chosen for him by Lance, meant he’d never change places with her. Lance found him brave and courageous. Strong and determined. A better man than Keith thought himself to be. Hanging onto Allura’s waist, all he could think of was reaching his boyfriend, because the waist in his hands wasn’t the one he wanted to hold.

*  
Keith had been right about the game helping Gyro, it felt as if it’d been hours that they’d been on the back of “Kosmo”. They’d passed through the forest, past ruins of an abandoned town, then plunged back into the forest up the side of a steep slope towards what clearly felt like a trap. The dirt path beneath the thundering paws showed clear human traffic, there wasn’t weed growth as their was on the edges, as a tall tower came into view, “Kosmo” slowed his pace. The tower was fortified by a thick wall of wood, cut trees sharpened into spikes at each end, with an imposing iron and wooden door right in the middle  
“Now guys, I might be taking a while guess here, but does anyone else think this is a trap?”  
Block was quick to agree with Meklavar  
“Yep. That’s clearly a trap. A great big trap. A trapperoo... Right, well, we tried...”  
Allura pulled Kosmo to a stop, turning back to smile as if the tower behind her didn’t ooze evil  
“Everyone off, we walk from here”  
“Vala, just to be clear, you want us to walk up to the clearly trapped gate at the creepy tower?”  
“Yep. A member of our party has been kidnapped and we have to get him back”  
“Maybe Pike left on his own...?”

Allura slid from the back of the wolf, Keith following her actions. When Block and Meklavar didn’t move, the wolf vanished from under them. Meklavar shooting Allura a glare, as Block gathered up his dropped staff  
“I was getting there...”  
“Now your down and you don’t need to worry. It’s a shame Pike isn’t here, he being a thief could disarm the door”  
Meklavar either missed, or more likely ignored Allura’s slight dig  
“What are we going to do now?”  
“Block could cast illusion?”  
“That depends on the race inside...”  
“You could hit it with your axe?”  
Meklavar turned to like at Keith, Keith shrugging   
“It’s a door and you have an axe”  
“And just announce to everyone inside that we’re here. Vala’s right... the one person we actually need is already inside this place”  
“Pike is the only one with lockpick and trap disarm... Maybe if we wait they’ll come out on there own?”  
Block nodded his head in agreement with himself. Keith was sorely tempted to try bring down the doors with his swords, but they were so thick he doubted it would work. Clicking her fingers, Allura had a new plan by the seems of it   
“I’ll set the door on fire”  
Meklavar blew a raspberry  
“Then they’ll know we’re here”  
Keith eyed the tower. It was only standing thanks to being in the game, normal physics would have had it toppled long ago   
“They probably already do. The tower is on higher ground”  
“Dark, stop ruining our adventure with logic”  
Riiiiiight. Logic had no place inside a corrupt game, how could he forget that?  
“Vala, can you summon something?”  
“You mean a mount to get us over?”  
Meklavar clicked her fingers because apparently that was what they were doing now   
“Oh! Block, do you think you can summon a stone golem?”  
“Guys, I’m not that kind of wizard”  
“Never mind! I’ll summon us a mount!”  
Keith groaned at Allura’s enthusiasm. If she could have done that, then she already should have been prepared. Drawing her arrow, Allura fired into the air, finally summoning something useful... a skeletal horse with wings. The whole party shied back from the beast that looked like it’d just left hell   
“Vala!”  
Allura threw her hands up  
“At least it’s got wings!”  
Block crossed his arms  
“I’m not going on that thing”  
And Meklavar poked the horse in the hip with her axe   
“Is it safe?”  
“Will both of you pull yourselves together! You’re brave explorers, and our team mates are in danger! Gyro could be under an enchantment for all we know and we can’t help either him, or Pike, if we don’t get over this fence!”  
Meklavar opened her mouth, Allura prepared  
“If this is an enemy stronghold, think of all the treasure inside”  
Meklavar kicked the ground with the toe of her boot   
“Not everything is about treasure... Fiiiine, for Gyro... and the treasure”  
Allura adding with a parental scowl  
“And Pike”  
Meklavar did as expected and repeated   
“And Pike“  
“That’s better. Right, off we go then”

Allura’s skeletal horse fell apart as it hit some kind of barrier above the sharpened poles, telling at Block to cast levitate, their party soon had a hold of chickens for some absolutely unknown reason. Why did Keith keep thinking things couldn’t get weirder?! Landing at the base of the tower, Allura beamed   
“Excellent! Right, Meklavar you take point. I’ll follow you, then Block and Dark you guard the rear!”  
Having been patient enough, Keith didn’t want to be on rear guard. The tower's door was already ajar, begging them to continue their way into the trap  
“Let me go first. I’ll buy you time if something happens”  
Allura was on the only one he could count on to move without instruction  
“That’s why we need you watching our backs”  
Meklavar turned, poking her tongue out at him  
“Yeah, Dark, stand back and watch!”

And Keith did... he stood back for all five seconds as Meklavar triggered the trap on the door. Skeletons clearly designed off sentries came streaming down the spiralling stairs of the tower, Allura quick to action as she went first for her bayard and then for her arrows. Keith drawing his swords as the floor of the tower glowed pink. Even if Lance’s head they couldn’t escape his fear of the Galra  
“Cut off their heads!”  
With no idea what else to do, Keith followed Meklavar’s yell, letting himself grow stronger with the belief Pike would be waiting atop the tower for them.

Cutting through the undead hoards, Meklavar was impressive with her axe, Keith working on defending Block as they pushed against the assault. His blade slipped through them so easily it was like being in the castle’s training room all over again   
“There’s more coming! Whaaa!”  
Meklavar crying out as she nearly lost her footing. The whole tower shook as something gave a roar, Block groaning  
“It’s a troll!”  
“Quick, get higher!”  
Cutting their path at a hastened pace, more skeletons were pushed off the stairs than they were slain, as the group made their way up to the door to the first landing, with nothing to lose the party barrelled inside, all of them throwing their weight against the door as the collapsed.

“... despite the miscommunication my Queen, the pearl shall be delivered to you”  
“And the halfling?”  
“Attached to the fellinwere. He too will be delivered”  
“Excellent, my champion”

The four of them turned at once, Gyro kneeling before a floating image. On the floor between them and him was Pike. On his hands and knees, Pike clutched his stomach as he wretched and hacked up blood, a glowing pink ring beneath his boyfriend. On instinct Keith went to go for him, Allura grabbing him before he could   
“Wait! Something’s wrong...”  
“They’re doing something to him!”  
“Gyro hasn’t noticed we’re here... Block, cast dispel illusion!”  
Block waved his staff, golden light shooting towards Pike. The image before then waving, then flicking away to leave the pink circle behind   
“No!”  
Pike had been right there!  
“What were they doing to him?!”  
Finally Meklavar sounded as if she cared. Block slumping to his hands and knees  
“Gyro betrayed us... oh man, oh man, oh man...”  
“Vala, what was that?!”  
Pike had... they were hurting him. They were hurting him and he wasn’t even there...  
“Oh, no... they must be trying to destroy the soul bond with the pearl! It doesn’t matter to them if Pike is alive or dead, they want that pearl!”  
Keith tore his arm from Allura’s hold  
“We have to stop them! They were hurting him!”  
Meklavar gripped her axe tightly, her eyes filled with renewed fire   
“Gyro betrayed us... he sold us out to the Queen of the East”  
Some other bad guy? Keith was done  
“Fuck this!”  
Jogging over to the pink circle, the magic fizzled and crackled in the air. With Gyro’s attachment to him, and knowing he’d be the one coming after Pike, he firmly believed he should step into the circle. He had to be the “halfling”, his mother was half whatever the Galra were here...  
“Dark?”  
“I’m going after them”

*  
Keith was growing rather tired of falling. Stepping into the pink ring, the ground seemed to give way. Landing on his arse, his breath was driven from him as Block, Meklavar, and finally Vala landed in his lap. They clearly weren’t in the tower anymore. The room dank and cold, not that the tower had been much better. Pushing themselves apart, Keith groaned as he forced himself up  
“I didn’t expect the four of you to come to his aid. I knew you’d come though. Newly faithful to his pet”  
With all the cliche of a bad guy, Gyro’s voice came from somewhere above. With all the cliche of a good guy, Meklavar yelled out   
“Show yourself!”  
With all the cliche of a bad movie, the lights came on, a row of flickering fire things on the walls lighting in a circle, one after the other... Torches... Keith wrinkled his nose at the knowledge that this world was really getting to him. Damn torches. Lance always did love a good cliche. With his armour removed from his right arm, Gyro stood before them, his hand to Pike’s throat as it glowed like Shiro’s Galra arm used to. Pike covered in blood, stomach slightly distended  
“Pike!”  
His boyfriend raised his head groggily   
“Stay... back... they’re after you...”  
“Block, cast secret!”

Pulled into an impromptu huddle, Keith drew his brow  
“What’s this?”  
Allura quickly explained   
“Gyro can’t hear anything we stay”  
That was handy... the princess went on to explain   
“Right. Gyro is being corrupted by his arm. He’s using Pike as a shield. We need to seperate the two of them before Gyro gets drastic and kills Pike for the pearl. If we can get Pike free, he can use his skills to get away from Gyro. Block, you’ll be on defence spells. Meklavar, you’ll be on bluffing him. Gyro knows Pike means everything to Dark, but what he doesn’t know is that we’re working together. K-Dark, I need you to keep your temper, at least until they’re separated. Right. Good. Let’s go team”  
That wasn’t much of a plan. Meklavar and Block both nodded, yet Keith felt they probably weren’t going to be any good. The game was upping its schedule on draining Lance. Cheating it’s way into preventing things coming to an end. If the game could cheat, then Keith was going to beat the damn thing just to rub it in its face.

Spreading across the room, Keith nodded as he faced Gyro  
“Why don’t you let Pike go? It’s me you wanted”  
“Don’t bother trying that with me. You wouldn’t come willingly with me before, you certainly won’t now. I’ll be taking both you and the pearl to Queen Hoveggra”  
“Oh woe are are! Curse this betrayal! Gyro, how could you do such a thing?!”  
Allura was laying it on far too thick. Keith resisting the urge to tell her to “shut up”  
“As if you’re one to talk! Dating the Queen‘s son! We were supposed to board that ship! Then you ruined everything!”  
“Oh dear, whatever shall we do?!”  
“Why don’t we let him kill Pike? Then we’ll take the pearl and the treasure?”  
“No one is killing Pike!”  
“Would your lover feel the same if he knew that you were lying to him? That Darkstorm Thunderspear and Vala aren’t who he thinks they are?”  
“I don’t know who you think we are, but we know who we are. Do you know who you are?”  
Keith raised his eyebrow, breaking down Vala’s retort in his head. What now? Drawing her arrow, Vala fired the ceiling, a scattering of flames appearing then disappearing  
“Dude, I think she’s serious. Think about it, Gyro. I could turn my axe on them right now, while you finish Pike off”  
“You’re lying. You’ve got nothing to gain from this!”  
“I’m a dwarf! We’ll be loyal to whoever’s handing out gold! Kill Pike and lets get out of here!”  
“What about Block and Dark?”  
“I’ll take Vala, and Block. You take Dark! You don’t want me to accidentally kill him, do you!?”  
“He must be presented to the Queen!”  
This was making his head hurt. If Gyro wanted him so badly, then he knew what he had to do.

Resheathing his right sword, Keith raised his left to his neck. Pike squirming as he noticed what he was doing  
“You either let Pike go, or I do and you have to explain to the Queen why I’m dead”  
“You wouldn’t!”  
Stepping towards Gyro, Keith grew more confident  
“For Pike, I would. I would and you know it”  
“You wouldn’t do that to him!”  
“I would if it meant him living. He knows that too. That’s why he’s trying so hard to get out of your arms”  
Gyro squeezed Lance’s neck, Lance trying to dislodge him. His eyes begging Keith not to do this. Instead, Keith continued moving forward  
“Stop!”  
“No. Let Pike go”  
“I’ll snap his neck”  
With how large Gyro’s hand seemed around Pike’s delicate neck, it was entirely possible and very easy for the Paladin to do just that   
“If getting the pearl was that easy, you would have done it already. Hey, Pike. Look down for me...”

Keith swung at Gyro, Gyro forced to throw Pike to the floor as he blocked the blow and drew his flaming sword. Racing across, Allura grabbed Pike under the arms and dragged him away. Parrying as Gyro let out an enraged roar and swung at him, Keith ducked and rolled away  
“Vala! What next?!”  
“Cut his arm off!”  
Say what? He was supposed to cut Gyro’s arm off? That hadn’t been part of the secret huddle. Dodging Gyro’s next swing, Keith searched the room with his eyes for something else that would help   
“I can’t... just cut his arm off!”  
“Do it! I’ll heal him when it’s off!”  
“I won’t be able to get close! It’s all I can do to parry!”  
“Use you’re strength, Dark! I believe in you!”  
Strength... that meant both swords? He was starting to feel the strength welling again, the battle high and the desire to protect Pike. Drawing his second sword, he and Gyro faced each other   
“It’s not too late, Thunder. You could join me and the glorious empire”  
“Or, you could join us”  
“The Queen will give you power!”  
“Gyro. This isn’t you...”  
Meklavar moved to stand behind Gryo, Gyro nimbly jumping back, before charging Keith.

Fighting Gyro wasn’t like training with Shiro. No, fighting Gyro was like facing Kuron all over again. Too emotions welling in Keith from the memory of the fight that he wished he could forget. Gyro was relentless, attacking over and over. Meklavar thrown as she rushed him, managing to land a blow on the back of Gyro’s leg before being savagely backhanded. Her body landing hard before she skidded across the dirty stone floor. Meklavar might only be a projection of Pidge, yet Keith snarled as he bared his teeth to his brother. He was so goddamn sick of people hurting his pack. Sick of his pack being used and manipulated by the others for their own ends. Sick of not being enough to protect them. Their fight was hardly a poetic dance, their rhythm chaotic, Gyro attacking on instinct instead of logic, making for a sloppy fighter. Gyro didn’t practice any patience, blinding himself to the possibilities of the fight. With his leg bruised, not wounded due to his armour, Gyro took to favouring his right side, yet with the game in his favour the change was barely visible.

Firing an arrow towards him, Gyro caught it midair, snapping Allura’s arrow one handedly  
“Vala, keep firing! Meklavar, you okay?!”  
“Fine! Takes more than that to hold a dwarf down!”  
That was good... Keith could feel the hesitation in his step. He didn’t want to hurt Gyro, not... not when everything was so fresh... Hearing a scream, Keith was knocked down, Vala was beside Pike who now had an arrow in his leg. Gyro laughed at his worry  
“See, even your precious archer knows no one can go against the Queen. You were supposed to disappear in the forest, but unfortunately you both came back... I must admit I did feel compelled to take you in your sleep and leave that cat behind, unfortunately he refused to leave... This is what he deserves”  
“Shut up! You’re not Gyro! Vala, what are you doing?!”  
“My healing arrow failed! Look out!”  
Dodging Gyro’s flaming sword, Keith felt his ankle roll, tipping him sideways. These leather boots were useless. Fucking Darkstorm. Falling to kneel, Gyro raised his sword again. With a battle yell, Meklavar launched herself onto Gyro, clinging like the gremlin she was, her axe handle at Gyro’s troat, hands both side of his neck  
“Dark do something!”  
“Cut his arm off! Block, take care of Pike!”  
He had no choice. Surging up, Keith could feel the resistance of the blade at slipped through Gyro’s flesh, blood spraying as Gyro roared, swing free Meklavar and her axe. Meklavar landed badly again, Gyro’s arm falling to the floor where the flame deactivated from his sword. Clutching the sword, the arm flipped and flopped like a dead fish, before starting to crumble. Falling to his knees, Gyro’s eyes were wide with shock, Keith rushing to catch his fallen brother before he could face plant. What the ever living quiznak was that?!  
“Th-Thunder...”  
Gyro gazed up at him... annoyingly lovingly... Meklavar and Block both coming over to him, Allura left with Pike   
“Don’t worry, I’ll heal him!”  
“We make a good team. You’re going to be alright, Gyro. You should go to Pike”  
“I...”  
Meklavar started pulling Gyro towards her 

Raising his head, Keith looked to Pike. Cradled in Allura’s arms, he didn’t like it at all. The pose felt too intimate. His boyfriend wasn’t supposed to be cradled in anyone’s arms except for his. Drawing himself up, Keith limped over to the pair, sinking down slowly beside Pike  
“Oh... babe...”  
Pike was holding his leg where Allura had shot him. As if him being bloodied wasn’t bad enough. He had an arrow sticking out of him for no good reason!  
“He’s mostly okay... they tried to take the pearl from inside of him. He’ll be uncomfortable, but he’ll be alright. How’s Gyro?”  
“Missing an arm. I’ll take care of Pike”  
“I suggest we leave this place as soon as possible. Reinforcements may arrive. This may be a game, but it’s already tried to cheat”  
Pike’s ears flicked at “game”. His boyfriend was great at paying attention at all the wrong times   
“I’ve got him”

Keith had the feeling despite what Lance said he remembered their bonding moment, seeing how many times they’d re-enacted it within the game  
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this”  
Keith’s comment drew a small chuckle from his boyfriend. Pike turning to focus on him with his big blue eyes, the moment would have been perfect if not for the blood  
“I don’t know, a handsome man coming to my rescue like I’m a damsel in distress, I could get used to this”  
“Don’t. Do you have any idea how worried we all were?”  
“I don’t...”  
“Nope, before you say it, let me say this; Vala, Meklavar, and Block, were all worried about you. When you weren’t there... and Sh-Gyro wasn’t there... How’d he get the drop on you?”  
“He hit me in the head with a lump of wood... I think. I don’t know. Next thing I knew I was over his shoulder and you weren’t there...”  
Pike’s eyes welled with tears  
“... I didn’t think I’d see you again. I tried using my skills to escape but he... he threatened to hurt you and I couldn’t... I’m so sorry... I just couldn’t... I couldn’t let him hurt you”  
“Babe...”  
“I’m sorry I’m so selfish... but... I couldn’t. You’re far too important to me”  
“You’re important to me, too. We’re getting out of here. Vala said the root of Gyro’s evil lay in his arm”  
“Oh... oh, fuck... are you... of course you’re not okay. He’s your brother, and he... Block said he wasn’t... he said Gyro wasn’t...”  
“Shhhh... Block and Meklavar both realised how wrong they’ve been. We could have lost you again...”  
“You didn’t... agh... sorry...”  
Pike tried to move, letting out a small gasp of pain   
“Don’t move. I’m going to punch Vala for shooting you”  
“Don’t, her spell didn’t work. There’s magic here... it must have cancelled her spell... shit... Gyro, he wasn’t alone...”  
“Okay... it’s okay, we’ll talk about whatever happened once we’re out of here”  
“I fucked...”  
“You didn’t fuck up. Gyro admitted that he was behind this. He’s probably been leading us into danger all along, but it’s over now”  
“I’m really sleepy”  
Sleeping was not a good thing. Not when Pike had clearly lost a lot of blood  
“You’ve got to stay awake for me a little longer... I know you can do that. You’re so strong, Pike”  
“I don’t feel very strong... I really was just a damsel in distress”  
“You make a fine damsel. No matter what reality, I’ll be sure to save you”  
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep”  
Laughing weakly, Pike then coughed violently. Keith sitting him further up, not liking the way his lover hacked and spluttered  
“Vala! We need to leave”  
“On it!”

Meklavar’s brilliant idea was to try carry Gryo on her back. None of them were being left behind, but Keith didn’t have enough hands for both Gyro and Pike. His loyalties lay with his boyfriend, but now Gyro was freed from the evil Queen, the emotions of what Haggar had done to Shiro were too prominent to ignore. Keith feeling as if he couldn’t take his eyes off either of them, Allura volunteering Block to carry Pike on his back as they made their way up the only flight of stairs. With the pink teleportation ring gone, and two of their party down, the trip was slow going. The game clearly wasn’t about to help them out, leaving Keith tempted to find his way out and break the damn device apart. His mood was rotten and he knew it, so wisely kept his mouth shut as he mulled his thoughts over. For an infinite game, their “sudden” betrayal by Gyro and the somewhat dismal fight felt lacking. Pidge had babbled for vargas over Killbot Phantasm, Keith playing once and finding it annoyingly frustrating. If Gyro was this easy, then he dreaded the final boss, who had to be Haggar. She’d disappeared, never defeated by them in reality. If she was the final boss, then they were as good as screwed. The bit about the miscommunication had to lay with what happened at the port... but if Gyro had given a sign, then the crew of the boat they were supposed to be travelling in probably could have got the drop on them... which meant the game had to be adapting, so why was fighting Gyro... oh... the fight... the game had to know that Keith didn’t have enough vargas in life to process everything that had happened. It had to know how raw those wounds were... Did that mean that Lance had been testing him? Did Lance expect him to choose Gyro and Shiro over him, when presented with similar circumstances? The whole mess hurt. It hurt and it frustrated him. Lance wasn’t okay by a long shot. If this was karma for being blind to Lance’s struggle outside the game, the game could kindly fuck itself right off into oblivion. His dumb arse had finally crossed that line to find himself in love with his dying team mate, and it quiznakking broke his soul to know that if they failed, this would be the only time he’d ever have with Lance. He was so incredibly torn, wanting to save Lance, while wanting what could be Lance’s final days to pass in happiness. He hated that part of him that really believed it was, and hated how fucking easy it was to fall back by Lance’s side. Everything fucking sucked.


	13. Injury

Emerging from what had been the tower, the tower was no longer as it’d been when it entered. Laying there in a broken shell of its original form, the building was a thousand times more sinister feeling than it had been. Despite the exhaustion of the team, they only stopped long enough for Allura to summon “Kosmo” again, which she hadn’t meant to do according to the mystical archer. Keith had only a hand full of moment to check on Lance, before Gyro was laid in front of Allura on Kosmo, and he mounted up to accept Block’s help to get his boyfriend up into his arms. Having lost consciousness, Pike’s head lolled against his shoulder, blood caking his chin and chest. Seeing Block and Meklavar both fearful brought a wave a relief to him, along with the feeling that maybe their opening would be coming soon. He really could use someone else on his side. Allura kept casting him worried glances that were hard to ignored. Keith felt physically sick from all that had happened, slightly peeved as Meklavar ran back to the tower, fiddling around at the base before running back to the party and clambering up on to Kosmo’s back.

Leaving the tower behind, they’d traveled a few dozen meters when an explosion boomed behind them. The only one not wide eyed with shock as they glanced back over their shoulders was Meklavar. The dwarf extremely smug as she explained  
“I lifted some explosives off Pike. I forgot we even had them. The tower had it coming”  
Keith blinked rapidly half a dozen times as he processed. He knew Pike had small explosives, but this was something extra  
“Call it a party special. I can’t believe I forgot about making them... I feel like there’s a lot I’m not remembering”  
Great. Another thing he was going to have to work out when it came to solving all aspects of what he’d missed during his time away from the pack.

*  
Travelling the worn path through the forest the game didn’t help with their sense of direction. Gloom seemed to weigh heavily on all their shoulders, the way lit by Allura’s light arrow, leaving plenty of shadows around for beasts and bandits to be lurking. When they finally found a break in the trees, the barely illuminated ruins of buildings threw off small reflections as the sound beneath their summoned mounts feet changed to the scraping of claw on stone   
“I don’t like this... I don’t like this all”  
Block stated the obvious, Allura agreeing  
“I agree. We’ll need to stop here for the night. There seems to be a building with a roof to the left, we’ll make camp there and check on both Pike’s, and Gyro’s, conditions. Dark, you stand guard while we check to make sure it’s clear”

The air in the village was so cold that their breaths fell in puffs of condensation. Meklavar was in her element as she smashed through the remnants of the building next to the one they were using. She was almost as happy about the wood she found as she was about the golden coins that she didn’t have to share. Laying Pike by the fire, Allura summoned another light arrow, Keith growling as she came close to Pike who still had her last arrow in his leg. A magical healing arrow didn’t seem the smartest approach to healing. On the other side of the fire, Block was casting some kind of yellowish magic on Gyro. Keith assumed, and hoped, it was his version of a healing spell. Kneeling beside him, Allura whispered softly  
“How is he?”

That was the million GAC question of the hour. They had no water, so he wasn’t able to clean Pike down. Pike was barely warm beneath his hands. His stomach still seemed slightly distended and somewhat firm beneath his hand. He’d bled through the hastily applied “bandages” on his legs... and worst of all, Pike wasn’t awake to be cracking his bad jokes  
“Not great. He said Gyro got the jump on him, then threatened my safety”  
“Keith...”  
“I know...”  
“No, you don’t know. We all handled this situation terribly. Shiro was more than a friend to us, and we didn’t know. We’ve barely spoken about how he feels, or how you feel over fighting him. You’ve always fought your hardest to have him by your side... You’re not coping, are you?”  
“It doesn’t...”  
Allura cut him off   
“Don’t give me that. We are in this situation because we’ve all been so caught up what we’re doing and feeling as individuals that we never noticed how we hurt each other. It’s okay not to be okay, Keith”  
A snort involuntarily escaped his nose  
“You sound like Lance. He keeps trying to reassure me over everything”  
“You’re very dear to him. I don’t remember the two of you being this close”  
“He really helped me, you know. Before leaving I didn’t make a very good Black Paladin, but Lance did try his hardest to back me up. I suppose, after Shiro, he was the one closest to me. The one I felt most comfortable with... my alpha probably noticed before I did that Lance was beta-omega...”  
“Is it weird not to have your alpha?”  
“It’s like not having Blue in your mind. Only, we’ve all had our dynamics since birth. When we present is when we connect with our alpha, but we always know it’s going to happen. Sometimes I think betas have it easiest. They’re free to fall in love with whoever they want, free of the animal inside of us... maybe if I had my alpha, Pike wouldn’t have this injury... What did they do to him?”  
“The pearl is bonded to Pike. I believe that some how they hoped to physically extract it from him. The image we saw was most probably part of a ceremony performed by Gyro as the Queen’s request. Possibly she cast a spell through the communication portal she was using? Or perhaps Gyro filled Pike’s mouth with blood, staging the whole thing to draw you in?”  
“But don’t you think the fight went to easily?”  
“Keith, from where I was watching, both of you moved... you both moved as fast as Lotor would. I found at times my eyes couldn’t catch the battle. Meklavar’s blow to leg was a lucky blow, I believe she also couldn’t predict where Gyro would pause”

That wasn’t how he remembered it... A shuddered ran through him as he was forced to remember the failing cloning station   
“Perhaps we should save the talking for now. If we had Meklavar’s gauntlets and Block’s jar, then we would be in a much better situation. I don’t know if we actually get hungry... I assume we do?”  
“Pike was. They wouldn’t feed him, or get him a bed. I think we need to continue treating these bodies like they were our real ones. Injuries don’t seem to translate into the real world, but what happened to Pike can’t happen again. He has to make it to the end of the game, or...”  
“I am aware. It’s too cold to change his clothes. I’ll remove the arrow once Block’s mana is sufficient enough to ensure that Pike won’t bleed out once it’s been removed”  
“And Gyro?”  
“I do not know. I don’t know if removing his arm did break the spell. I also don’t know his condition... We won’t until he wakes”  
Keith sighed. Basically he was useless all over again  
“The best thing you can do is make Pike comfortable and monitor him the best you can”  
That hit too close to home. Allura’s words felt too much like reality, where Coran would be making Lance comfortable and monitoring him the best he could. Hopelessness was the worst feeling of all, only followed very closely by uselessness. He knew how to tend a wound, but without supplies all he could do was wait.

*  
The night seemed endless, the party resting fitfully. Keith and Allura both silently watching over their group until morning finally creeped over the buildings of the ruined town, both exchanging nods when it came to fetching more wood for the fire. Block had cast a healing spell on Pike, yet they had no idea how effective it would be with whatever had been done to him. His boyfriend shivered through the night, despite being closest to the fire. It seemed a race now between who would wake first. Gyro wouldn’t have as many answers as Pike, his memory most likely filled in by the game, but with the change in Meklavar and Block, Keith was hoping Pike would wake first. There was nothing like a near death experience to bring people together, even though Pike being kidnapped didn’t need to be that particular experience it may provide the in that the others needed.

Pike narrowly beat Gyro to waking. Meklavar coming to their sides the tick Pike groaned his way back into consciousness. Peering up at the pair of them, Pike didn’t have a chance to voice his confusion   
“You idiot. You nearly died!”  
Pike flinched, emotion flickering over Meklavar’s face  
“But I’m glad you didn’t...”  
“Are... you sure?”  
Pike coughed, probably in need of water  
“Yes, I’m sure. Don’t do that again”  
Meklavar scowled at Pike who closed his eyes again  
“It wasn’t planned”  
“That doesn’t matter. You gave us all a scare”  
“I didn’t mean to...”  
Meklavar opened her mouth, this time Keith feeling as if he was being selfish as he said   
“That’s enough for now. He’s only just woken up. Why don’t you check on Gyro?”  
“Okay, but only because I want to. Seriously Pike, don’t do that again”  
“Not planning on it...”  
Waiting for Meklavar to move, Gyro let out a groan not dissimilar to Pike’s. Meklavar looking past both of them  
“Go check on him. I’ve got Pike”  
“Alright... but I’m watching both of you”  
Leaving them, Keith gently cupped Pike’s cheek  
“She’s right you know, you did give us a scare”  
Pike licked his lips  
“Water?”  
“Let me ask Vala”

Allura’s solution to the lack of water was to summon out some water creature that vaguely looked like a cactus. Snapping off its foliage, it didn’t seem to care it’d been summoned to have its limbs broken off, the thing smiling as Allura gathered enough for each of them before it disappeared. Taking the wet foliage back to Pike, Keith pressed a piece to his lips, his boyfriend opening his mouth to let him feed him. Chewing, pike pulled face  
“It’s all we have right now. Is it any better?”  
“Need to spit out the rest”  
Keith held his hand out, Pike to weak to even spit out the chewed up foliage. Fishing it out his mouth, Keith dropped it behind them  
“Better?”  
“Mmm... sorry”  
“It’s fine. We arrived here last night, so I have no idea if there’s water around. How do you feel?”  
“Sore... What happened?”  
Keith popped a piece of the plant into his own mouth, chewing slowly. The texture and flavour lacked an explanation. It wasn’t bad but it was a long way off being good  
“We don’t really know. Gyro’s been awake about the same time you have. Block cast a healing spell on you... we didn’t... after what happened we weren’t sure if it was going to work”  
“I’m not sure what I feel... I feel like a bruise. Everything is kind of tender, but I can’t say if it’s painful or not. It’s cold... and I smell terrible”  
“I hate to break it to you, but you look as bad as you smell. We don’t know where the nearest water source is, or if it’s even clean”  
Pike wrinkled his nose  
“Then please tell me I can at least get off this floor? Next time you rescue me, can I wake up somewhere nicer?”  
“I’ll keep that in mind... Are you sure you’re up for sitting up? You lost a lot of blood”  
“If Block cast a healing spell I should be okay... besides, I’m not the one we should be worrying about. Not with Gyro awake now”  
“Vala is with him”  
“I want to see him too”

Keith couldn’t tell Pike no, yet now that Gyro was awake the Barbarian wasn’t sure he could face him. To look at Gyro was to see Shiro... but this wasn’t his Shiro. This wasn’t his brother. The words he’d say weren’t anything other than the game filling in the blanks. Having cut Gyro’s arm off, they couldn’t be sure he was no longer under the Queen’s control   
“Are you sure? You went through something horrible. If you need a little time, we can...”  
Pike frowned at him, Keith cutting himself off, accidentally swallowing his piece of plant as he did   
“What you went through is a thousand times worse. You had to fight your brother. You had to hurt him... to save him. You’re asking me if I’m alright, but you’re the one I’m worried about”  
“I’...”  
“You’re not fine. Don’t you dare say you are. You’re scared and you’re not okay, and I think you’re the one who needs to be talking to me about how you feel. He’s your brother. He was mean to me, not to you”  
“He was going to hand me over”  
“Because he was under whatever magic that was...”  
Pike shuddered hard enough for it to be visible. Keith wasn’t sure if it was from the cold floor or from the memory of what had happened before they rescued him  
“Do you... remember?”  
Lance nodded   
“I do”  
“Do you want to tell me?”  
“I do”  
“Then I’ll check on Gyro and we’ll go for a walk... and talk”  
“Alright”

Briefly checking that Gyro was alright, Gryo kept asking Keith if Pike was alright. Much of Gyro’s anger was now gone, instead now Gyro was preaching the Way of Light that guided all Paladin’s. Thanking the party and the God of Light, Keith was tempted to let Vala shoot Gyro so he’d talk about something else other than how happy and grateful he was to be a Paladin. The God of Light hadn’t saved Gyro’s arse, he and the party had. Keith understood that the game and Lance’s drop cast everyone in the worst possible ways, blowing things out of proportion as if it was perpetually a bad day, but now Gyro was preaching he wished for grumpy Gyro back.

Leaving their camp with Pike, Pike leaned into Keith heavily. The fellinwere walked with a limp, his left arm linked with Keith’s as his right hand rested on his stomach. Finding the well in the middle of the town, the bucket came up full of sand, Pike sadly stating that must have been the reason the area was abandoned. Keith wished he could clean Pike up. Each time he looked to Pike he’d see the dried blood, each time he’d feel sick to his stomach with the “what if’s” that could have played out had the been any later. Reaching a low wall with enough space for them to sit side by side, Keith lifted Pike up onto it, before joying his boyfriend. Snaking am arm around Pike’s waist, Pike rested his head against Keith’s shoulder as he took Keith’s hand in both of his. Quiznak, it was nice not thinking of the blood on Pike. The view wasn’t the best, not with abandoned and crumbling buildings surrounding them, but the sky was blue, birds were chirping and the breeze was warm. Pike was alive, holding his hand and his boyfriend was right where he was supposed to be.

“I think you should go first”  
Breaking the several moments of silence, Keith kissed Pike’s greasy hair  
“There’s not much to tell”  
“There a lot. When you found out that there was something wrong with Gyro, then him disappearing from you, before showing up and forcing you to hurt him to save his life... that’s a lot”  
Keith sighed  
“Yeah... it’s a lot”  
“Tell me?”  
“You just woke up”  
“Tell me anyway. I made you wait all night for me to wake. All night you would have been playing it over and over in your head, not able to tell me or ask me for help. You would have been wondering what would have happened had Gyro not been saved. If he really has been saved? If you hadn’t been there in time? You tried your hardest and you still could have lost him... and it fucking sucks”  
“It does... I don’t think... I feel so stupid. I feel so fucking stupid. I ignored my gut. I believed I was doing the right thing and I was relieved he was back. I didn’t listen. I didn’t listen because I didn’t want anything to be wrong with him. I wanted the win for us. I wanted things to go our way... He’s my brother and I... fighting him... I thought I’d lost him forever”  
Pike nuzzled into him as he wrapped his arms around him the best he could  
“I left him with you all, and I... I thought everything would be okay. I thought... leaving...”  
“You left the party to find your mum. You didn’t know”  
Keith eyes filled with tears. He wanted to scream. He wanted something he could do to vent the emotions from his body instead of simply sitting still   
“But he was gone. He wasn’t even Shiro. He was my brother. My best friend. He took me in when I had no one and when he vanished... I vowed I’d find him. I vowed I wouldn’t... I’d bring him back... and he died... and he died and I didn’t know and he was alone and I...”  
“You didn’t know... you didn’t. You can’t blame yourself for not knowing”  
“But I should have! I should known instead of pushing it aside. He would have known”  
“Whatever was done to him, it was done so we wouldn’t know. Blaming yourself is only hurting you”  
“Maybe I deserve to be hurt. I couldn’t be enough. I couldn’t be there for everyone and...”  
“Dark, that’s enough. You’re not a million people able to do a million things for others. We all make mistakes...”  
“But he was gone and you died because I wasn’t there!”  
“I died because I took the blast for Vala”  
“And we could have lost you forever”  
“But you didn’t”  
“But we could have. What’s the point of training and being strong when I let down the people I care about?”  
“Then why should any of us train? You’re the strongest and most caring person I know. You’ve always cared in your own way. You left because you needed answers and leaving was the only way to get them. You needed to know. You couldn’t have imagined how things would be. The best we can do is keep moving forward... even when everything really sucks”

Keith could so easily believe he was talking to Lance instead of Pike. He could believe it was his best friend he was holding, not the broken bits of Lance personified in the game. He wasn’t one to cry in front of other people, but with Lance... he felt safe. He felt safe enough to let the words come, knowing he wouldn’t be judged. Even when Lance was judging him, he’d never hold his actions against him. He’d make his point in some other softer way that made him see sense. Everything Pike was saying was true. He couldn’t have imagined Shiro being cloned in those hundreds of status pods. He couldn’t know for certain ever if the Shiro who’d crashed back to Earth was his brother in his original body. Shiro had been taken, tortured, forced to fight as the Champion. On top of that, Shiro had been lost in the darkness of the astral plain. Dead for phoebs while that bastard Kuron walked around in his cloned skin  
“I feel useless”  
“You’re not... you’re not. You’re Darkstorm Thunderspear. The Barbarian of our party. You loved him. You loved him and we all failed him. We failed you for not noticing. We failed the party... I failed... because... because everything he said to me was right. Everything that he wouldn’t say before, he no longer needed to hold back. You’re better... you’re better than anyone else in our party. You’re brave and kind. You’d do anything you could for the ones you care about... You’re amazing... You know who you are, Dark... and all the rest of us can do is fumble around in the darkness trying to figure that out for ourselves”  
Trapped in a game corrupted by Lance’s drop quintessence, Keith was essentially fumbling in the darkness. Things were smoother now Vala was Allura, but he still felt as if he was stumbling in the dark as badly as Pike was  
“Pike... I’m not... I’m no where as... I’m not what you think”  
“You are to me. You’re not like the rest of us Dark. You’re more than know you are. You’ve grown more than anyone else in the party. Your world isn’t clouded by the same anger it was. There’s new horizons out there for you”  
“There’s new horizons out there for both of us. Don’t go anywhere I can’t follow”  
“I won’t...”

Mutually feeling it was time return to the others, Pike’s knees buckled as he slid off the wall, Keith there to catch his boyfriend   
“Pike!”  
“Don’t yell. I guess I’m not as over my injury as I thought”  
Fuck. He’d let himself talk. He hadn’t asked what happened while they were separated. He wanted to know before Allura. Before the rest of the party knew... He wanted to be the one Pike confided everything in  
“Injuries... we didn’t even talk about that...”  
“There’s not much to say”  
“There is if you’re not feeling well”  
Pike bit his lip as Keith swept him up against his chest. His boyfriend light in his hold  
“Pike, what aren’t you telling me?”  
“I... I feel the pearl. It’s inside of me... and I can feel it. Like it’s pushing against my organs, dislodged by the magic... it wants to... I need to return it to the castle”  
“That’s where we’re headed”  
“I know... but this feeling... it scares me. I wasn’t scared before but now I wonder what comes next”  
“You were scared before. You don’t need to hide it... You were only kidnapped yesterday”  
“It feels so much longer... It feels like time it’s self is slipping away. Like I’m slipping away...”  
“You’re not going anywhere. Not without me. We’ll get the pearl to the castle, then we’ll all go home together. We’re a team”  
Pike continued to frown, despite Keith’s attempts to cheer him up  
“I’ve been letting the side down. You didn’t sleep last night. But you... haven’t needed me to sleep lately”  
“That’s where you’re wrong. I can’t sleep without you there”  
That finally got the smile he wanted from his lover   
“You’re a great big sap, aren’t you?”  
“Only as much as you are”  
Pike snorted, raising his left hand his boyfriend flicked him on the cheek. Keith drawing his brow  
“Just checking you’re real”  
“I can drop you if you want?”  
With a shake of his head, Pike clung onto him  
“Nope. This is good. Carry me back to camp”

Gyro was on his feet as Keith carried Pike back into camp  
“Thunder, Pike. We were getting worried where you two had disappeared to. Are you alright, Pike?”  
Having grown used to the team’s constant dismal of Pike, having Gyro care about Pike threw Keith off  
“I’m fine... just a bit tired. How are you...?”  
Gyro looked at the stump of where his arm had been  
“I got off lucky, all things considered. I’m so sorry”  
“You were under a curse...”  
“I don’t know how it happened. Vala here has been filling me in on the details of what happened. It seems I wounded you severely”  
“It wasn’t you, it was her. Dark, you can put me down now”  
“Are you sure?”  
“I’ll be fine”

Pike being “fine” consisted of his boyfriend standing cuddled into him. His feet apparently very interesting. Shooting Allura a meaningful glance, Allura cleared her throat  
“We’re all so relieved you’re okay, Pike. We were all so worried that the magic used on you persisted... and... We can’t lose you. What I did by not telling the others about you dying for me, it’s inexcusable. Maybe if I had, we would have noticed how rough a time you’d been having because of all of us. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I hope we can be friends... I’ve been so dismissive of you, and now I think about my actions towards you... I can’t believe how inconsiderate I was”  
“You had a lot going on...”  
“That doesn’t make it alright to ignore a friend. We all messed up. But we all want to make it right with you. Block and Meklavar have both been worrying about you... And Dark...”  
Pike didn’t need to verbalise, Keith could feel how nervous he was. Allura might wish to make things right, but too much at once wasn’t the way to go about it  
“Has talked to Pike. He’s going to be okay, he’s just a little shaken over everything happening so suddenly. What did you decide while we were gone?”  
Allura looked to Block and Meklavar. Meklavar climbing to her feet. Keith’s first instinct was to step between her and Pike, yet for some reason, she came over to hug the pair of them  
“Don’t be idiots. You scared us, Pike. Your part of our team. We might not be much of a team, but don’t go getting kidnapped again. And don’t go nearly dying again. Not cool”

Her change in attitude made no sense to Keith, not until he considered that maybe this was how Lance had thought Pidge would react the first time around? That she’d hug him, then tell him off for his stupidity, and warn him against doing something so foolish again. That wasn’t much to ask for. With all Lance had done for the pack, it should have been common senses  
“I’m sorry, Meklavar. I know I’m stupid... but Vala...”  
“You are stupid. Do you have any idea what we all felt? You’re still covered in blood. Just don’t... don’t do that again”  
Meklavar broke the hug, covering her awkwardness by punching Pike on the arm. She seemed pretty happy with herself as she placed her hands on her hips as she spoke  
“Right. Now that’s settled, we have a mountain range to reach and a spooky town to get out of. This place is even worse in the daylight, and we’re too close to that tower for comfort. Pike, I’m ordering you not to be kidnapped again. Block, food’s going to have to wait until we find a town. Vala, we need a mount. Gyro, no wandering off and getting cursed again”  
Keith didn’t miss his name not being said, he assumed it went unsaid that he was to stay beside Pike. His boyfriend didn’t seem in any hurry to talk now that Meklavar had her say. None of them were in any particular hurry not to get out the spooky deserted town before whatever caused its ruin came back to find fresh meat. He hadn’t had the conversation he wanted to have with his injured lover, but he’d had the conversation he needed to have with his best friend, so that would have to do for now.

*  
Clearing the woods, Allura swore once again she’d summon a flying mount, only once again did she summon the game’s version of Kosmo for the journey. As they climbed onto his back, Pike chose to sit behind Keith rather than be safely nested in his arms. When asked Pike had mumbled how he wanted to be the one holding him for a change, and with Keith decidedly the strongest party member Gyro was placed in front of him, giving him the two injured to watch over. With Kosmo’s size and speed, the woods were left behind in no time, the terrain turning rocky, a small mountain forcing them to loop around the natural obstacle, initially taking them wildly off course from the looming mountain range on the horizon. Keith had the feeling that though they’d travelled the mountains still looked as far off onto the horizon as they always had. He’d come to the realisation that given what they’d been through, the presence of their destination shouldn’t have been, well, present. It was like standing on the roof of the garrison and seeing Cuba, or at least that’s how he imagined Lance would describe it. The game was clearly having its fun taunting them.

Riding on Kosmo’s back, it soon became too slippery to be practical, especially on the downward slope they were forced to take that only lead to more rocks, a ridge, then those damn mountains in the background. Block making the comment that holding the summoned beast in their plain for as long as she had, Vala must have exhausted a fair amount of mana. Falling into a loose line, Meklavar went first. If she couldn’t climb or cross, then they’d have to find a way around the obstacles before them. Picking their way through the slippery stones, the sun was high in the sky, Allura having them foresight to have saved extra from her summoned water beast, handing out a piece of the plant for all of them to chew as they walked. Too hot to hold hands, much less cuddle as they walked, Keith trudged along side Pike at the back of the group. His boyfriend was thinking, his bottom lip trapped beneath his teeth, with his ears flicking occasionally. The silence between them left Keith more uneasy than their current trek  
“Pike, what’s up?”  
“Hmm?”  
“You’re quiet. I was wondering what’s wrong?”  
“It’s nothing. I’m just trying not to trip”  
“We can take a break...”  
“No. I’m okay”  
Dirty rotten liar. That wasn’t what was on his mind   
“Then if you’re okay with walking, maybe you want to tell me what else is on your mind”  
Pike sighed heavily   
“Fiiiine. I was thinking about Meklavar’s reaction”  
“What about it?”  
“Don’t you think she was being too nice?”  
Yeah. He did. But Keith had given up on figuring out the mechanics of all of this   
“It’s not ideal, but we all nearly lost you. It was a major wake up call for the others. They’re not acting out of pity, they’ve realised what I’ve been telling you all along. You’re irreplaceable to the party”  
“She’s acting so weird though. She hated me. I was useless and now she’s being nice. Vala’s being too nice. Gyro’s being too nice. I don’t understand what changed. I don’t know what to do when they’re being nice”  
“What do you want to do?”  
“I don’t want to be mad, but they really...”  
Pike huffed, shrugging as he did. Keith supplying   
“They hurt you?”  
“Being on the outside... it’s hard... and it hurts.. I don’t want to be on the outside but it all feels so sudden... but I don’t want to do to them what they did to me”  
The world didn’t deserve Lance. He didn’t deserve this, nor did he deserve how he felt   
“You don’t have to make a decision right away...”  
“And what if she goes back to hating me because I haven’t?! I’m too tired and hot for this... I want everything to hurry up and be done!”

Hissing his words, Keith tried not to be that “overly concerned boyfriend”, but Lance’s words were snappy. His face was flushed red, and his steps more stumbles. Letting Pike move in front of him, Keith could see his boyfriend hadn’t noticed he was no longer right by his side   
“Babe?”  
Taking half a dozen uneven steps, Pike tripped  
“Pike!”  
Reaching Pike, Keith turned him by his shoulder as an arm slipped around his waist for support. The normal healthy colour had drained from Pike’s face, his lover shivering as if frozen beneath the boiling sun. Keith was no expert on sunstroke when it came to others, yet Pike felt to him as if he’d overheated. More than once his search for what he now knew to be Blue had left him taking less than ideal precautions before heading out into the desert he called home. None of them had eaten, they had stuff all water and two team members that’d be in the infirmary if they’d been upon the castle   
“Vala! We need to take a break”  
Pike moaned at his voice   
“‘m fine”  
“Liar”  
“‘m fine... you worry too much”  
“You’re not fine, and were all hot”  
“Mmm... your hot. Ugh... I don’t feel great”

Jogging back to them, Allura’s cheeks were flushed   
“Pike, what’s wrong?”  
“He’s overheated. He and gyro have pushed themselves too far. We need to find shelter and get their temperatures down. He’s already showing signs of heat stroke”  
“I’m not sure what we can do. We’ve been walking for what feels like vargas”  
“Hunk said your mana was low?”  
“I tried a small summoning spell, but nothing happened. My magic hasn’t been working as it worked in the game last time”  
“I’m sick of this game. Can you help me get him up on my back? I can carry him, but we’ll be in trouble if Gyro faints too”  
Allura nodded quickly, her tone changing as she smiled at Pike  
“Pike, it’s Vala. I’m going to give you a hand to get up on Dark’s back”  
“Vala?”  
Pike was out of it, unable to focus  
“Yeah. Your mystical archer to the rescue. You just let go of Dark, and I’ll help you onto his back”  
“Vala?”  
“Yes, Pike, it’s me. Ready?”

Pike had no idea what was going on. His boyfriend manhandled by Allura onto his back. Allura wiping her brow as she puffed out a breath   
“He‘s right. The heat is rather uncomfortable”  
“None of us are going to make it if we don’t get out the sun. Can Meklavar do something? She’s a dwarf, isn’t she?”  
“Possibly, but there isn’t a lot to work with. Block may be able to cast levitate, and use his staff to fly Gyro down, but the rest of us will still need to walk”  
“Have him do that, it’s better than the alternatives. When Pike starts getting too depressed things start getting dangerous again”  
“Alright... If you need a break from watching over him, I’m happy to”  
“I’ve got him. Let’s focus on getting us all down from here, then we’ll rest. Maybe by then you’ll have thought of some game mechanic we can use”  
“Maybe. The game certainly isn’t as I remember. If I’d never played I imagine we would in the hull of that ship”  
“Don’t remind me. It’s bad enough out here that I almost wish we’d taken the ship”  
“You know, I think I agree with you. We could have overthrown the crew and become pirates”  
Keith nodded  
“Lance would have loved playing pirate”  
“I agree. For a rogue, he hasn’t been using his skill set. Do you think he can’t?”  
“I think he’s got about as much of an idea about what’s going as we do... We’ll talk more about it tonight”  
“Good thinking. I’ll let the others know the change of plans”

Getting to the base of the rise they’d been on wasn’t without challenge. Keith’s ankle rolled, him and Pike taking a slid down the mountain before Pike managed to come to a stop and catch him his leather straps. Allura nearly made it down unscathed before tripping at the incline onto the flat ground. Meklavar seemed to give up, letting herself roll down half the slope then jumping up and praising her dwarven race. With no shade to be found at the bottom, they made their own makeshift structure from Block’s and Pike’s cloaks, and Keith’s two great swords as “tent poles”. Huddling beneath the slim amount of shade, Pike and Gyro were both feverish. Gyro sporting a bleeding nose, Pike throwing up before collapsing against Keith, whose ankle had been strapped with a piece of fabric cut from the bottom of Block’s cloak. He’d had to fight to get Pike to agree to strip down half naked, to let some air flow across his over heated body. Fanning his face, his boyfriend looked as miserable as all felt... except for Meklavar who was used to rocky outcrops, and wasn’t dying in her armour like the rest of them  
“Babe, am I dying?”  
Mumbling, Lance cracked open his eyes to gaze up at him  
“No. You’re dehydrated. We all are”  
The heat had left Keith a throbbing headache to match his throbbing hands and ankle. Being an adventurer wasn’t all it was cracked up to be  
“I don’t feel very good”  
“I know, but Vala needs to recharge her mana so we can summon another mount”  
“I hope she summons the unicorn again... you’d like the unicorn”  
“Would I?”  
“Mhmm. It’s pretty. We flew on it when we faced the Coranic dragon... it was fun”  
“Maybe she’ll get it right this time”  
“I hope so... I don’t feel too good”  
“I know, but once she has more mana, we’ll be out of here. No more rocks”  
At this stage Pike had had more water than Keith. Keith passing him his extra ration of plant, trying to get some kind of fluids into his lover. Running his fingers through Pike’s brown locks, Pike purred at the touch  
“No more rocks until we reach the mountains...”  
“If I die, I don’t want to die angry... You’ve been the best part of this whole journey”  
“You’re not dying. I didn’t save you just to lose you all over again”  
“I wonder if there’s elves around here...”  
“Elves?”  
“Tall dudes with pointy ears...”  
Pike was struggling with his words. Keith wished he’d rest, yet he feared Lance falling silent now he’d started talking  
“... can do magic. I don’t think I like magic anymore”  
“You don’t like magic anymore?”  
“It hurts... made my stomach hurt... and feel funny. They wouldn’t stop”  
“They’re not here to hurt you, nor anymore”  
“Feel funny though... My stomach feels bloated and I feel sick... they did something to me... I’m not right”  
“You’ll be okay. You’re going to be okay”  
“I don’t know... don’t feel well”  
“I know, babe. That’s why you need to rest”  
“I’m being annoying”  
“You’re not being annoying”  
“I am... I’m so sleepy”  
“I know you are. Just rest a little bit and we’ll be out of here before you know it”  
“Hope so... don’t want to... don’t want to hate anymore... not her and Block... too much effort”  
“You can tell Meklavar and Block all about it when we get to the next town”  
“I’m sorry... I’m so tired”

Pike didn’t reply, his eyes drifting shut. Shaking Pike’s shoulder, he didn’t rouse under the touch  
“Vala! Vala, I need help over here”  
Calling in a whisper for Allura, Allura crawled over to sit by them  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Lance is fading fast. We need to leave. I know we only just settled under the shelter, but if he doesn’t get water soon he’s not going to make it. None of us have had enough water since we left town”  
“I can’t summon anything, and we’re out of rations...”  
“I can’t lose him... He says the Magic’s made him sick. He feels like he can feel the pearl inside of him”  
Allura’s eyes grew wet  
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to get everyone out of here. We could leave the others, and make a break for it...”  
“Pike wouldn’t forgive us if we did. We risk being thrown out the game and not being able to get back in. He seems close to forgiving Pidge. Earlier when she was being nice to him, I have the feeling that’s how he thought her finding out he died went. That she’s scold him, hug him and apologise... He doesn’t talk about Block”  
“Hunk was his best friend”  
“Maybe that’s why? Because he thought they were best friends until he no longer had time for him? Did you notice any changes?”  
“I was spending a lot of time with Lotor. Hunk was generally with Pidge”  
“So he didn’t have time for Lance... When we get back, I am never touching another video game, no matter how many times Lance asks”  
“I must confess I feel the same way. I don’t understand this world at all”  
“That’s because Lance was depressed before he dropped. He’s essentially trapped in the feeling of having he worst day of his life”  
“That doesn’t make helping him easy. I don’t know why he doesn’t have the characters move the way he wants them too”  
“That has to be the game... Lance doesn’t know this is a game. It’s his reality. He can’t make people do what he wants them to do in real life, so he can’t make them do what he wants here. How’s your injury from earlier?”  
“I’m much improved. I can try to summon some kind of mount to get us out”  
“Only if you have enough mana. It’s no good summoning a mount that doesn’t last”  
“I don’t think we have a choice. He looks much how he looked when I remember seeing him last”  
“Allura... If he dies, I want these final days we have with him to be the best he’s had. If we can’t find a way to save him, I want him to die here where he’s happy. Where he thinks he’s in love and an Explorer on a dangerous quest that will solve all our problems when the pearl is returned home. If I can’t make the choice, you need to. If my character gets too hurt to continue, then you need to get him to the end”  
“Keith...”  
“I’m serious...”  
“And I’m serious too. We’re all going to make it through this. I’ll see if I can summon a familiar to scout for us. If I can find water we can rest here longer”  
Keith shook his head   
“We’ll need protection come dark. The temperature in this place is going to be worse than the deserted town. We don’t have firewood here. I know as pack leader I should be the one to go find food and water, but... I can’t leave him”  
“We agreed you’d stay by Lance. I’ll scout for water”  
“It shouldn’t be this way. This isn’t how a team acts”  
“A team is only as strong as its weakest link. Unfortunately for Pike, he is currently the weakest. What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t do everything we could to help? We won’t make it out the game without him, and I won’t be able to live with myself if we lose him again. For all his loud mouthed, carefree, obnoxious flirtatious antics, he’s our friend”  
Keith frowned at Allura. Her heart might in the right place, but she seriously wasn’t seeing all of Lance. Lance always wore his heart on his sleeve, that’s what kept the pack together, that’s what kept their alphas in line, and prevented them from growing too territorial. That’s why out of all of them he didn’t deserve to spend an eternity locked Bob’s freakish game show  
“Lance is the way he is because he only ever wanted us to be happy. When we’re all angry and thinking too much, he’s loud and cracking bad jokes to try to make us feel better. He makes a fool of himself and plays the dumb one so we all get mad at him and forget whatever was upsetting us. He’s only care free because he doesn’t want anyone to feel as bad he does. And his flirting was only ever meant to be a confidence boost... I know he apologised for making you uncomfortable, but he was only trying to tell you that you’re a good Paladin, a good Princess, and a good leader. He wanted you to feel special and wanted, so you felt part of our pack. He’s so stupid that he’d die for all of us and think it was the right thing to do because he values all our lives more than his. If he dies, it’s our job remember the real Lance. He might have been all those things before he settled down, but remember that he still didn’t feel worthy of being a Paladin, even after Red accepted him”  
Allura’s eyes narrowed with determination   
“We all played a part in failing him, we will get him to the castle and we will get out of this together”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m digging having Allura here... but I’m wondering who shows up next 🤪


	14. Trouble

A soft warm bed covered in thick furs, gentle sunlight glittering through the shadows of swaying tree branches, birds chirping and singing in the distance, a crisp cool breeze blowing through the open windows. All the nice things Keith may have noticed if he hadn’t shot upright in bed, before promptly falling onto the warm wooden floor in a pile of furs”

“Whoa there, weary traveller. You are safe”

Pushing himself up, Keith eyed the space he’d woken in. The room a round dome, six beds around the edges, where his party members slept. The place organic, branches forming the walls of the structure. Disorientated, the last thing he remembered was being on the rocky outcrop. Licking his dry lips, he tried not to show his uncertainty of the situation as he eyed the stranger. Light brown skin, hair that wasn’t hair. Pointed ears and robes made from what looked like some kind of animal skin. Something was familiar, yet nothing was coming to mind  
“Who are you?”  
“Friends for now. You’ve slept the last three days in this three. You are most fortunate your companion found help for your party. It was foolish to cross the Barren Scapes as you did”  
“My companion?”  
“The fellinwere named Pike. The familiar of your archer was detected by our mages as you grew closer, yet you all owe your lives to him”

Pike...! Trying not to wobbled as he untangled himself to stand, Keith couldn’t see Pike laying sleeping as he could their other team mates  
“Where is he?! What have you done to him?!”  
The stranger gave a laugh  
“Such hostility. He was much the same when you were separated for treatment. He is well. He walks amongst the village as we speak. He offered his life so that we might save you. Barely coherent, bloodied and blistered from the sun. He hadn’t much life left to offer, yet he still carried you, and you alone. He would not have left your side if he could have helped it, yet our leader has long since abandoned us, making us wary to those who might pass through our grove”  
Too much was happening too fast. Stumbling his steps, Keith sank down on the side of the bed he’d fallen out of. His brain mostly half a sleep, and what wasn’t was confused and worried over Pike  
“But he’s okay now, isn’t he?”  
“He is for now. He has made a deal and you will see him upon sundown. For now you shall rest. Your constitution requires sexual intercourse for true sleep to be received, you will find your companion was unable to accomodate your needs in his condition, your sleep was on of collapse, not true rest. Stay and heal”  
“I need to see Pike”  
“You will, traveller. You will”

How Keith was supposed to rest, he didn’t know. The stranger let themselves out of the room, before a thick vine snaked across it to effectively lock the party in. He was going to hit Pike for leaving him there. For leaving all of them there. They didn’t know these people. What was this whole deal thing? And where the hell were they? Finding his feet again, Keith shuffled to the closest window. The view spectacular, lush valleys dipped into thick woodlands. The people below living various trees and small wooden houses. There didn’t seem to be that many of them, all of them looked more or less identical. He tried find Pike amongst the others, but from the height he was they all looked so small and similar that his boyfriend went unfound. The stranger had said he’d see Pike at sunset, but there was no sun in the sky to give him any kind of idea when that would be. Such a place didn’t seem possible with the hostility of the game. The “grove” seemed a pocket of paradise in world that wanted them dead and gone. He couldn’t figure this out at all... and didn’t know why he kept bothering to try when he already knew he couldn’t keep up. He needed a more “adult” adult to tell him what came next. He needed someone far more patient than he was, jumping out the window then finding his way down to Pike was far too appealing... even if he was mad that he’d gone and left him. Pike knew he couldn’t handle it. He knew he needed him and Gyro in the same place so he could watch both of them... so his idiot boyfriend should have been by his side. He would have been by Pike’s the whole time. He would have stayed there and nursed his fever. Held his hand and kissed his forehead as he slept. Yeah. He was so stupidly smitten. Stupidly, stupidly smitten over a fragment of Lance. He knew he was playing with fire, yet it was impossible not to fall more and more for Lance. He needed Allura, which meant waking her.

Never had he has to wake Allura before. When Lance had insisted on pack nights together, he’d be the one to gently wake her and send her off to sleep. With Pidge it was easier to simply carry her down to the chaos that was her room. If Lance happened to be the one who fell asleep first, Hunk usually woke him, then he and Keith would walk back to their rooms together. Allura looked like a dignified princess, even as she slept. He knew she was pretty, everyone knew she was, but asleep she looked almost angelic. Shaking her shoulder gently, Allura groaned at him  
“Sorry, but you need to wake up”  
“5 more doboshes, Coran”  
“No can do princess. It’s Keith”  
“Keith?”

With a long yawn, Allura drew herself up, her rubbing at her eyes before they widened   
“Where are we?!”  
Nice to know he wasn’t the only one confused  
“I’ve got no quiznakking idea and Pike isn’t here”  
Allura frowned at him, then cocked her head  
“What is this place? It feels very Olkarion”  
That’s what he couldn’t put his finger on. He hadn’t forgotten about the Olkari, but he hadn’t not forgotten about them at the same time. They’d had their own worries to deal with  
“I don’t know. They said Pike saved us and made some kind of a deal. Then they fucking locked us in”  
“They did what? I’m sorry, this is all...”  
“A lot to wake up to? Tell me about it”  
“I need a tick to process... You’re saying we were all brought here?”  
“They said their mages noticed your familiar. I don’t remember you summoning one”  
“I remember I summoned Platt again by accident, but we were all dehydrated... Meklavar and Block collapsed after Gyro... and Pike was unconscious”  
“That’s what I thought. I don’t know why the game is giving us a reprieve but I don’t like this”  
“I don’t know either... We should wake the others. Do you know how long we’ve been here? Did they say? Who did you meet with?”  
“They didn’t give their name. There was only one of them. They said we won’t see Pike until sunset”  
“Stuff that...”  
Allura covered her mouth as she giggled  
“I’m afraid the game has made me quite unladylike”  
“It’s refreshing”  
“I must confess it is. You wake Meklavar, I’ll wake Block, then we’ll gather by Gyro”

Meklavar was snoring without a care, sprawled across her bed with her mouth wide upon. Her armour and weaponry gone, leaving her in the same kind of leather robe as the mysterious visitor. Keith hadn’t noticed before but the same went for him and Allura. Shaking her shoulder, she shot up in bed  
“... 10 gold and not a copper more, you cretin!”  
Keith snorted at Meklavar’s waking words, even asleep she couldn’t hide her desire for treasure   
“Keith?”  
Keith blinked, and blinked again  
“Pidge?”  
Catching an armful of Pidge, they seemed as confused as each other  
“What are you doing here?”  
“Where are we?!”  
The hug broke, Pidge raising an eyebrow at him  
“What are you wearing?”  
That was her question? He supposed he looked as ridiculous as she did  
“The same thing you are. How are you here? How’s things out there? How’s Lance? Vala, you need to get over here. Meklavar is awake, awake”  
Pidge bit her lip at Lance’s name, Keith felt his stomach drop as his excitement dropped from his sentence   
“Pidge, what’s wrong?”  
Pidge sighed deeply, her hands moving to play with the furs on her bed  
“A lot. I’ll wait for Allura, but is there someone we can talk?”  
“We’re locked in here”

The three of them sat on Pidge‘s bed, Block had fallen back to sleep giving them the only privacy that they were going to get  
“Pidge? What’s going on?”  
Allura placed her hand on Pidge’s, Keith reminded Pidge was the youngest of them. Sniffling, Allura’s hand slid across Pidge’s shoulder to draw her close   
“It’s Lance... He’s not doing well, and your not doing well either Keith. You’ve become sick from Lance being in a near heat state, your body wants to go into a rut being beside him, but you both grow distressed if we try to seperate you. He’s so weak... Coran has been doing all he can. We’ve been trying but... I don’t know what else to do. I can’t work out how to end the game... I can’t work out how to wake you up...”  
Pidge had been working herself to the point of hysterics. Normally she would let herself be angry, her and her alpha had issues with dealing with stress, plus the added trauma of losing her family. In one way or another all their pack was broken in some form. That’s what made the ties that bound them so important. Their pack had come together out of need, then shifted into “a weird kind of space family” as Lance would call it. Pidge was everyone’s younger sister, not that she needed reminding of fact, but with resolve and work ethic, it was easier to believe she was older than she actually was  
“Pidge, thank you for watching out for us”  
Pidge sniffled, her eyes downcast. As pack leader he couldn’t let her hurt any longer. She was truly remorseful over her actions, actions that’d leave a scar on the hearts of all of them  
“I don’t feel like I’ve done anything”  
“You figured out the game was corrupted, and that that was feeding into Lance’s drop, without being able to interface with it directly. That’s not nothing”  
Pidge wiped at her eyes aggressively   
“Hunk had the idea to scan the light particles and emissions from the game...”  
Techno-babble wasn’t his thing, Pidge likely to plunge into an explanation that he didn’t understand   
“You still made that jump. Plus, you being here, I think I’ve figured out why we’re here now. When we met the Olkari, you were the one who gained the most from that visit. Pike had been thinking a lot of what had previously transpired between you. He said he didn’t want to die being mad at you anymore... The game is controlling everything, but there are times when Lance has known what’s coming next. I think thinking about you, his mind formed this place because he felt like it was the time you and he were really closest”  
Allura let out a small gasp  
“That would make sense... but that would also mean that there’s trouble here”  
Keith’s mind clicked again  
“They mentions they were wary of travellers since their leader abdanoned them. We need to find a way to get to Pike. He’s already made a deal with them. He tried to offer his life for help for the rest of us”  
“You didn’t tell me that”  
Keith huffed. He’d been adult enough to know he needed a more “adult” adult, but he wasn’t about to admit so  
“In my defence, I wasn’t awake long before I woke you up”  
“I’m glad you did. It’s so good to have you here Pidge. Keith is trying, but honestly he’s pretty useless at everything that doesn’t involve his boyfriend”  
“Wait! What? You’re dating Pike?!”  
“Keep it down. We don’t want to wake Gyro and Block. And yeah... I am”  
“But... he’s not Lance is he? Isn’t that like deceiving him?”  
Technically yes, but he was in too deep to keep pouring salt on that particular wound  
“Keith explained it to me, and I agree with him. We don’t know if Lance will pass before the game is finished. We’ve chosen to make whatever time we have here the best we can. Keith’s been wonderful with him, but you need to be prepared. He’s quite wary of us, our character have been quite harsh towards him. This game is cruel, feeding on his anxiety...”  
“What Allura means is that for Lance, everything you’ve said and done has been to hurt him. Allura wasn’t forgiven until I mentioned that she hadn’t passed on the information over his death”  
Pidge drew back from Allura  
“I’m still mad you didn’t tell us. But I’m more mad we didn’t even ask if he was okay”  
“That’s understandable. I’m not terribly fond of myself right now. I don’t deserve his forgiveness for what I did”  
“But you know he’s going to forgive us anyway... I still can’t believe he hid being an omega for so long”  
Keith cleared his throat, he hadn’t been finished with what he was going to say before Pidge jumped in  
“Neither can I, but we do have some idea how to get out of here. Lance is carrying the pearl inside of him, the whole point is to get that pearl to the castle. Gyro was based on Kuron, so Lance and him aren’t really talking. Block constantly agrees with you over how annoying Lance is, and his depression isn’t great. You won’t be able to jump on him and hug him, without risking him kicking you out of the game for suspecting something is wrong with you. I know we don’t want to think about Lance dying, but we can’t avoid it... So we all need to be careful. You can’t mention our pack, our dynamics or that his name is Lance. You’ve also got to remember to use your character name”  
“I’ve played this game with him before”  
Pidge might have thought she had some idea, but she had none at all. Allura starting  
“It’s not like the time we played...”  
Before Keith agreed and finished   
“Allura’s right. She’s been unable to summon what she’s wanted, she’s also shot Pike in the leg with an arrow. She can’t cast healing spells, or summon flying mounts”

Pidge glanced between the pair of them, waiting for the joke, before gaping   
“You shot him in the leg?!”  
“I cast healing arrow, but nothing happened. We have none of our legendary items. Block and Gyro also don’t really move without direction. It seems that us three, and Pike, are the only ones who have any control around here. You because you’ve joined us here now”  
“But the coins and the treasure?”  
“You found a little bit, and we got treasure from defeating the Weabloanian worm. Adventuring isn’t as fun as you’d think”  
Pidge sighed  
“My one chance to be a video game character and the mechanics suck. Alright, but don’t think I’m not going to be grossed out by you and Pike kissing”  
Allura blushed   
“They don’t just kiss”  
“Ew! I don’t need to think about my two brothers doing... that”  
Keith’s cheeks turned bright red as he blushed harder than Allura   
“It’s not like we’ve done it...”  
“Uh-shush-da la la la, I don’t want to know”  
“I’m not the one brought it. For now we need to find a way to Pike, before something happens”  
“So he’s as good at finding trouble as Lance is... right?”  
Keith didn’t care fore Pidge’s phrasing, yet it slip as he mumbled. He wanted to be out there, with his boyfriend who no doubt was getting into trouble  
“More so”

*  
A meal was brought for them sometime in the afternoon. Keith had shimmied his way out of the window, onto the edging platform that ran around the dome the party was in. A series of walkways connected the trees, yet with his appearance he’d stand out like a sore thumb. Highly annoyed he’d been forced to climb back in. Pidge had adapted pretty easily as she talked to Gyro and Block, Gryo still going on about the virtues of being a Paladin as Keith sulked himself back to bed.

When the sun started setting, the same stranger from the morning came to collect them. Lead down through the paths, none of them knew what to expect. Lance being dressed in a completely different get up and now wearing both a blade and arrow slung over his shoulder’s wasn’t what Keith was expecting at all. His boyfriend’s face brightened as their eyes met, before falling. The idiot had definitely gotten himself in trouble   
“The strangers have awoken. Tonight the beast shall be slain, and thanks shall be given”  
Pike shuffled. Keith closing his eyes and forcing down a deep breath. Two and two made four. Lance with weaponry meant he was off to slay the beast  
“Pike shall enter the tomb of our forefathers, he shall slay the beast the king has left in wait. If he fails his duty, his life will be forfeit and the lives of his friends as payment for his failure”  
“No”  
Pidge surprised all of them, the villagers gathered around all staring down at Meklavar  
“You have something to say, dwarf?”  
“You’re not sending him out without back up”  
“So you wish to accompany your companion. Alas, this task is his alone to complete”  
“That’s bullshit. He’s a rogue... you can’t send him up against the beast”  
Keith cleared his throat. Attempting to be tactful instead of baring his teeth at the scheming bunch of dicks in front of him  
“I will go in his place”  
“We cannot allow this. Pike has made the decision. If you do not trust in your teammates ability, then he will die with that knowledge. He is allowed one last request before he is to leave”  
Pike looked at him, Keith wanted to hit him almost as much as he wanted to grab him and never let him go  
“I choose to place my trust in my companions. My last request is that Darkstorm Thunderspear accompany me. I was told any last request I had would be granted”  
“I accept”  
The villagers looked to their leader, who looked severely displeased  
“You were told you were not to ask for more than we can allow. Your other friends shall remain here as our guests. Any attempts to flee and leave them behind will result in both your deaths. Furthermore, Dark shall not be provided with weaponry. You offered your life for their’s. Remember this. His death shall be on your head should you fail”  
If Pike could pull of the same shots Lance could, then Keith could wield the sword. Pidge and Allura would be left behind, hopefully able to figure out what was happening with the non-Olkarion Olkarions  
“I accept”  
Pike nodded  
“I accept”  
“Very well, you shall be led to the tombs. If you fail to complete your task, or fail to return by sunrise, your lives are all forfeit”

Keith didn’t have the chance to talk to Pike until after they’d reached the doors to the tombs. The doors opened with magic, grating as the giant stone slid from its place to allow access, then almost snapping closed behind them. Finally alone, he grabbed his boyfriend by the arm, Pike flinching in preparation for a verbal beating. Pulling Pike to him, Keith hated that he’d made him flinch, almost as much as he hated knowing the darkened halls must be scaring his boyfriend   
“Don’t ever do that again!”  
Pike whimpered, Keith sighing was he nuzzled into his hair. He was mad as fuck, but he was also incredibly grateful to be holding Pike  
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have scared you. But... Shit. How did this even happen?”  
Pike sniffled against him, his face pressed to Keith’s chest  
“I don’t know... I didn’t mean to... They wanted to throw us all out and you guys needed help so I just ended up agreeing but I didn’t know it was to this”  
“Did they hurt you?”  
“No. No. I don’t really remember even asking them for help. I couldn’t wake you up. I couldn’t find water. I couldn’t see straight. When I came too, they told me... and I... I said I’d do anything if it meant you’d get help. They told me I needed to prove my resolve, and that they’d help me if I helped them...”  
“At least you had a final request”  
“I didn’t think they’d agree. They were so adamant I had to do this... I’m sorry... I should have come alone, but you said... you said you had my back”  
“I would have been madder if you hadn’t asked. How long were you sleeping?”  
“Two days. They don’t like that I’m trying to get to the castle. They said no one goes there and it’s a wasted trip because I won’t find what I’m looking for there”  
That had to be the game trying to mess with Lance  
“We’re going to the castle and we’re going to prove those villagers wrong. Did they tell you anything about the beast?”  
Pike shook his head  
“Only that the king locked himself down here with it. You better take the sword. We’d be completely screwed if you left it to me”  
“Pike, whatever it is, you’ve always found a way. Have some more faith in yourself”  
“I have faith that it’s better in your hands. I’m not sure how good of a shot I’ll be with the bow”  
“You’ve got this. Reckon if I boost you, you could grab a torch off the wall?”  
“Yeah... just no peeking”  
“You think I’m going to peek up your robe?”  
“I think if we make it out of here alive, I’m going to expect you to do more than peek up there”  
“Deal. I’ll ravish you so hard the whole village will regret messing with us”  
“I like the sound of that. Okay, let’s get us a torch”

With Pike’s dislike of darkness, Keith let him hold the torch. The corridor was as wide as it was tall, carved from the black stone by what could only have been magic. When they got back to reality, he was banning the pack when it came to games and magic, though he had the feeling none of them would be particularly fond of either topic given the circumstances. With their footsteps echoing through the hall, they both seemed to be holding their breaths in anticipation, fingers brushing against each other’s for comfort, yet not holding hands. Following the slope of the hallway, they emerged in a rounded chamber, four paths stretching off into the darkness as far as the torched walls allowed. Spinning to examine the space, Pike asked the question they were both thinking   
“Now what?”  
“I don’t know. But we’re not splitting up”  
“Which way do we go?”  
“I don’t know. Which way do you think?”  
“I’ve got not idea... Do you think that’s what happened to the others? They got here and had no clue?”  
“I bet Meklavar would know”  
She was a dwarf after all. Plus she had a keen nose when it came to sniffing out money  
“Probably... I’m probably not the guy you want watching your back right now”  
Keith sighed at Pike, he hadn’t meant anything by it, at least not to warrant such a dejected response  
“That’s not what I meant. Why don’t we just try the closest passage and see where it takes us. That way we know where we started”  
“Alright... I suppose that makes sense”  
Keith bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from asking what Pike meant by that. He didn’t know why he was feeling as antsy towards Pike as he did. Probably because the game was fucking with them once again. Walking over to the tunnel they both stared into seemingly endless depths  
“Ready?”  
“Ready”

With no sun to give them a sense of time, they walked on until Pike finally had enough. The barely lit corridor concealed the doorways they’d passed in its shadows, neither of them any the wiser of their presence, nor had they noticed the twists and turns of the passage. Flopping himself down on the floor, Pike drew his knees to his chest, barely remembering not to hold the torch close enough to singe his hair  
“This is stupid”  
“It has to go somewhere”  
“I feel like it goes on forever”  
“Well, what do you want to do?”  
“I want to go back to the village and let them hang me at this point”  
Sitting down beside Pike, Keith wrapped his arm around his boyfriend’s waist  
“Come on, it’s not that bad”  
“How is this not bad? They said your death would be my fault”  
“I haven’t died... there’s that. And we’re together”  
“But what good is it if we’re together and the others end up dead?”  
“They won’t”  
“You don’t know that...”  
“I do because we’re going to find this beast and slay it”  
“Unless it comes after us”  
“If it does, it means we won’t have to search for it?”  
Pike let out a small snort, letting himself be pulled against Keith   
“I hate that you always know what to say”  
“No you don’t. You hate the dark, and this place is pretty damn dark”  
Lance hummed, before nodding to himself  
“Dark, do you know why they spell dark with a “k” and not a “c”?”  
“I’ve got no idea”  
“Because you can’t “c” in the dark”  
Keith groaned. The joke was appalling, though it did make him feel better. If Pike could crack a joke, he wasn’t letting himself fall too far into depression  
“That was terrible”  
“Made you groan”  
“It did. Pike, why do you hate the dark so much?”  
“It’s silly”  
“If it’s something that you have a problem with, then it’s not silly”  
“I... it’s cold, you know? When I took that blast for Vala, my blood felt like it was boiling, and then I was cold... I was so cold... and everything was so black... I felt myself die, and then I felt her bring me back... it gave me so many nightmares. Of not waking up... I started being scared to sleep with the light off”  
“That’s messed up”  
“It sucks... sometimes I still get scared to sleep... I don’t like sleeping alone”  
“I won’t let you. It really messed you up, didn’t it?”  
“I could lie, but... it hurt more thinking everyone knew and no one cared”  
Pike’s voice was so low that Keith nearly missed his reply  
“I’m sorry I didn’t know”  
“You were busy... everyone was busy... I knew I had to push down my feelings for the good of the party, but it hurt so badly. Sometimes... it’s like I can feel it again. I keep feeling... like they didn’t say anything because they knew the party would be stronger without me. That maybe they worked it all out but didn’t say anything because they thought I’d take the hint and just get rid of myself”  
“Pike, no. No. The party wouldn’t be any better off without you. We wouldn’t be stronger. Did you forget you saved all our lives”  
“I... left the others...”  
“If you hadn’t we wouldn’t have been found and we wouldn’t be here... Wait, I mean we wouldn’t be alive, before you go getting the wrong idea. That was pretty amazing”  
“Because begging for your friends lives makes you amazing”  
“It does when you’re calling them friends again. I’m happy you’re working through things”  
“I wouldn’t call it working through things... I’m just tired of being tired, you know?”  
“Whatever it is, you were still brave. You are brave. Brave enough to be a Barbarian”  
Lance snorted, nuzzling into him  
“I’m learning that Barbarian’s aren’t what I thought”  
“For better or worse?”  
“Definitely better... Alright... I supposed we can keep walking... have I told you lately I’m really tired of walking?”  
“You might have mentioned it. But just think of the reward you’re going to get for slaying the beast”  
“Ooooh, trust me. I am... we don’t even need to have sex, I just wanna feel close to you”  
“Idiot. You’re the person closest to me. That’s not about to change anytime soon”  
“I hope not... I hope the others aren’t going to be mad I held up our journey”  
“Pike, being mad at you is the last thing on their minds”  
“Meklavar...”  
“Meklavar talked to me today. She realises she wasn’t the nicest of people. She’s sorry that she let everything build to the point where things have gotten this bad. And she’s going to tell you herself once we get back, so you better be prepared”  
“I doubt she’ll be that enthused”  
“You’ll have to wait and see how right I am”  
“Someone sounds cocky”  
“Because I know I’m right. The only person having trouble in believing in himself is you”  
Standing himself up, Keith held his hand out until Pike finally took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet  
“Ready?”  
“Ready”

As they traipsed the silent hall, it occurred to Keith that maybe he shouldn’t have made Pike feel better. Monsters and bandits seemed to appear to match Lance’s mood. Now that Lance was happier, the game wasn’t playing fairly. From a point of view of power, Keith thought the game would want to keep Lance alive long enough for the others to join them, but from the very beginning it’d clearly had its own agenda. All this creeping around was tiresome, and at this stage Keith was ready to suggest heading back to the main room, and banging it out in some very loud sex until the beast appeared. At least it’d be some small stab of revenge towards the hostile non-Olkarions. Walking on, Pike jogged ahead of him, groaning loudly as he stood a few metres ahead of Keith   
“What’s up?”  
“We doubled back... when we sat down, we doubled back. We’ve been walking for hours and getting nowhere!”  
“That can’t be right...”  
Striding up to his boyfriend, Keith let out a groan of his own, followed by a mental curse. The stupid game had to be messing with him in particular. He’d only just been thinking about the space and now they were back here. With a growl, Pike moved away from him, letting his anger out by punching the closest piece of wall  
“Pike!”  
“This is ridiculous! We’re going to die! Vala, Meklavar, Gryo, and Block, are all going to die! There’s nothing down here! All of this was for nothing!”

Pike punched the wall again, Keith moving to move his boyfriend away from the wall before he could punch it a third time  
“That’s not going to help anything. I think you’ve busted your knuckles open”  
“Good!”  
“Not good! You’re bleeding”  
Keith jumped as Pike’s tail wrapped around his arm  
“It’s nothing”  
“It’s not nothing. I’m frustrated too”  
“What are supposed to do? Yo! Beast! Come out already! Come finish the job, I’m already bleeding!”  
“Pike!”  
“I hate this. This is why I can’t do quests on my own. Why I’m not as good as the party. Why I’m the one who has to get a job as we travel because I’m not good enough to quest with the others”  
“Enough. That’s enough. Do you know how hard it is to hear you think so little of yourself?!”  
“Dark...”  
“No. I hate it!”  
“Well I hate me too! Go ahead and hate me like everyone else!”  
“I don’t hate you!”  
“You might as well! Newsflash, Dark, I’m the sixth wheel! I’m too stupid to care about!”  
“You’re not stupid!”  
“I am! All my life, it didn’t matter how hard I applied myself, it didn’t matter how hard I tried, I was always told that I wasn’t! I did try! The classes at the boarding school weren’t what I was taught before I went there, and I never kept up... even when I tried I never got it right. I’m wrong. I’m wrong and I’m stupid... they were all right. Now I’m showing you all my bad sides and you hate me because you see how much...”

Sometimes people needed to be shocked into silence. Grabbing Pike by the shoulders, Keith shoved him back against the wall as he kissed him. Pike trying to complain, until finally his mumbles died out and his kiss returned. Sharing a deep, slow kiss. Keith broke the kiss with a sigh, resting his forehead against Pike’s  
“I want to see all your sides. You have depression. You probably have PTS, and anxiety because of everything we’ve been through. You told me you’re not doing okay in your own head. I shouldn’t have snapped like that. I just... I really, really, like you”  
“I really like you, too”  
“You’re not stupid. You’re smart in different ways, and that’s okay”  
“Two therapy session in one night...”  
“Not therapy, just one boyfriend reminding the others that he’s here for him”  
“You barely saw Gyro... I’m worrying about everyone, but you have that extra worry because he’s your brother... I was being selfish”  
“You weren’t being selfish”  
“I was. You’re worrying about everyone too, and I keep letting myself be wound up. I vent it on you, you reassure me, then it all builds up again. I don’t like it”  
“I don’t like it either, but we’re working through this. How badly does your hand hurt?”  
“A bit”  
“Babe”  
“I know. I did a you. I hit something because all my thoughts were too busy and I needed them to shut up. We’re in trouble here and I don’t know what comes next”  
“We pick a different pathway. We’ll go down the opposite one at the end. We already know that one sucked”  
“I’m tired and the fight hasn’t even star...”

Both Keith and Pike jumped as something solid landed heavily in the round space. Backing up to the wall, Keith snatched the torch from Pike. Before then was a hulking black shadow, eyes glowing red as it growled. It’s piglike nose sniffed loudly, drool running from its tusked mouth   
“Holy fuck...”  
Yep. That was a fairly accurate statement given the thing in front of them  
“It’s a some kind of gargoyle... this bad... this is very bad...”  
“Pike?”  
“They don’t take well to non-magic attacks... We could really use Gyro right about now...”  
“What the fuck is a gargoyle?”  
“Mythical guardian beast that turns to stone in the sun... you should remember, we studied them in school!”  
“I don’t... fuuuuuck...”  
The beast went for them, Keith pulling Lance to the floor to avoid the sharply clawed feet. Shoving the torch in its face, it reared back at the light, flying up to disappear into the shadows  
“Pike, we’ve gotta move. It’s too exposed here”

Taking Pike by the hand, they ran. The flapping of the beasts wings echoing, leaving Keith unable to tell where the creature was  
“We’re so fucking fucked right now. Did they know?! Are we a sacrifice?”  
“I don’t know, babe. But we’re not dying today”  
That’s how the found that the corridors had doors. Barely ducking in time to miss the claws coming for them, they both fell hard as momentum make them stumbling, crashing through a wooden door into a pile of dust and splintered wood. Left barefooted, Keith hefted Lance out of the debris before his boyfriend managed to get splinters in his feet, before standing him up against the wall a metre or so from the now open doorway, the torch now lay on the other side of the broken door, the only light in the black room  
“Are you okay?”  
“I’m okay... what happened now?”  
“We fell through some kind of a door”  
“Great... wait, you weren’t hurt were you?”  
Keith wasn’t entirely sure if he was or wasn’t, the fall activating that primal battle side that Barbarians seemed to have   
“Not that I know of... shit...”  
Yanking Pike away, his boyfriend’s arm was cut deeply by a searching foot. The beast unable to fit through the doorway, howling in rage that it’s prey wasn’t between those nasty toes of it. Moving further from the torch wasn’t on Keith’s plans, nor was the warm blood running down Pike’s arm. Pike proving how strong he was by not crying out in pain   
“Fuck... fuck, hold still”

Using his sword to attempt to cut a strip from his hide robe, Keith ended up nearly turning his into a mini skirt at the bottom. The blade sliced through the hide far too easily, Pike managing a laugh as he clutched at his arm  
“That’s a good look on you”  
“Shut up. I’m being heroic”  
“In a skimpy dress...”  
“It’s not a dress”  
Cutting the hide proved annoying. Placing the sword between his knees, Keith cut the hide into a continuous strip, almost like peeling an apple, overly cautious and not winding up with that much extra to tie around Pike’s arm. He should have thought about the those damn claws. Thanks to the nature of the game Pike was always the one worst off in encounters. His continually injured state probably making it easier for the game to absorb his energy. Moving to bind Pike’s arm, his boyfriend stared at him the whole time  
“What?”  
“Aren’t you going to kiss it better?”  
Triple checking it was secure, Keith played along and kissed the top of the dressing, Pike laughing as he did  
“Shut up. You told me too”  
“I know... is it bad that those long legs of yours in that short dress is making me want to sink down and suck you off?”  
Keith flushed. He knew how good Lance felt around him... and now was not the time for his dick to be twitching with interest  
“Piiiiike. We’re on a dangerous quest, remember?”  
“Then stop being unfairly hot...”  
“I’m not hot”  
“I hate to break it to you, but you’re kind of hot as fuck”  
“Pike...”  
“I’m just saying, you’re gorgeous... even in a dress. Seriously, how airy does it feel now?”  
“It doesn’t feel... great...”  
Keith hadn’t noticed that for a such a cold dark place, neither of their bare feet had been cold from the trekking around. His groin on the other hand, wasn’t having such a nice time being exposed, though the robe did come to just above his knee so it wasn’t too short   
“If you figure out how to save us, I swear I’ll blow you right here”  
“Don’t tempt me...”  
“Then don’t be tempting”  
“I’m going to get the torch”  
His boyfriend was a menace. His body a dirty rotten traitor. Popping a boner mid-battle seemed a great way to end up castrated. Maintaining as much of a distance as he could around the doorway, Keith was forced to lunge and roll for the torch as the beast went for him, the torch sent rolling as he hit the wall, catching the edge of the door on fire. Shrieking, the beast pulled back, Keith snatching the torch up and running back over to Pike who’d sunk down to squat. The dark... Pike was flirting with him to deflect from how dark the room was... not that it was as dark now that he’d set the door on fire  
“Pike, you take the torch...”  
Pike rose as he did, shaking slightly as he nodded  
“On it... why did you set the door on fire? That was our way out”  
The growing fire was also the only thing keeping them safe from searching claws now, though the new danger was the smoke  
“I dropped the torch trying to pick it up. I’m guessing whatever is fuelling it is pretty potent stuff. It caught immediately”  
“Do you think maybe they’re magic? If this beast has been here for ages, they couldn’t change the torches daily”  
“Unless they were magic, and didn’t need changing!”

His boyfriend was a genius! With a surge of affection, Keith cupped Pike’s face, kissing him deeply with pride. The needed magical items, in the tombs of magic wielders. There had to be something there, even if the only weapon they found was the torches hanging on the walls, Keith was sure they’d be able to defeat the beast now. As their first kiss dissolved, Keith pressed three firm to pecks to his boyfriend’s lips, as Pike asked  
“What... was... that... for?”  
“We’re in a tomb filled with magical torches, and the bodies of magic users... Look, there’s coffin things”  
Illuminated by the burning door, the back of the room held three coffins... Keith didn’t know what to call them other than that, but they seemed to be made out of stone instead of wood... so he wasn’t completely sure they were coffins  
“I don’t think they call them coffins”  
“What would you call them then?”  
“Ummm... sarcophagus? Sarcophagi? Sarcophaguses?”  
“Coffin” was much easier to say, Keith wasn’t going to make a fool of himself trying to say some word that he knew he’d stuff up trying to repeat  
“Whatever they are, we’ve got to check them for some kind of weapon”  
“Don’t you think they’d be protected by magic?”  
“Maybe... but if there’s a chance there’s a weapon we kind of have to take that risk...?”  
“If we get cursed, I’m blaming you”  
“That’s fair”

Pushing the lid off the first was a task and a half, made of solid stone, Pike made his arm worse trying to help. Even with his added strength, the lid didn’t move easily, then both of them were reeling back in horror over how fresh the body inside looked  
“I don’t care if there’s some ultra rare legendary in there, I’m not going near it”  
“I don’t want to do this either”  
“Then let’s put the lid back on”  
“We can’t, we need a weapon”  
The body didn’t look like a body... They’d all seen death, the light gone from the eyes of the person who’d only just been in the world of living. This body looked... it’s cheeks looked rosy  
“Then cut its head off”  
Keith crossed his arms as stared at his boyfriend   
“What? Why?”  
“Because if that thing wakes up, I don’t want to be turned into a vampire”  
“It’s not a vampire... it’s probably magic”  
“It’s creepy and I don’t like it”  
“Fine, I’ll look. You hold the torch”  
“Like I already am”  
“What are you getting snappy at me for?”  
“I’m not getting snappy. I just don’t like the way it makes me feel. It’s like it’s going to sit up, or shoot out of the box and go for our necks”  
“Then turn around while I look”  
“And let that thing get the jump on us, I think not”  
“The stab it in the heart with an arrow. They’re wood, right?”  
“I’m not desecrating someone’s body”  
“You literally just told me to cut its head off”  
“That’s different... I don’t want it hurting you”  
Keith was pretty sure that an arrow to the heart was less of desecration than popping someone’s head off. Sighing to himself, he peered over the edge with his nose wrinkled, thanks to Pike he was now expecting to be lunch for the dead body in front of them. Finding he was holding his breath, he poked around in the box, letting out a long breath as he leaned back  
“It’s just a body. There’s nothing else in there”  
“What? There’s no ring or anything helpful?”  
“Nope...”  
“That blows”  
“You know, you’re making it sound like you wanted it to be... something”  
“I was hopeful that it’d give us something to get us out of here. I don’t like...”  
“You don’t like the dark and you don’t like how this place makes you feel, I know”  
“Now who’s getting snappy?”  
Keith shot Pike a very pointed look. Neither of them wanted to open the other two coffins, and what was the point if the insides were as bleak as this one   
“Fine. Let’s get the lid back on”  
“Are you sure nothings in there?”  
“You take a look”

Thrusting the torch over the stone lip of the coffin, Pike got a little too close. The body catching on fire as he hissed, leaping backwards. So much for not desecrating the body   
“Pike!”  
“I didn’t mean to!”  
“Now what are we going to do?!”  
“I don’t know! This torch is insane! I wasn’t that close and it went up!”  
The body crackled as it burned, green and pink sparks floating upwards. With a grunt, Pike grabbed his belly, sinking to his knees and sending Keith’s heart racing and he moved to his boyfriend  
“What is it? What’s wrong?”  
“I felt something”  
“You felt something?”  
“I swear I felt something move inside of me...”  
“It’s probably nerves...”  
Pike shook his head, his hand rubbing at his stomach... in a way Keith might have found a little too appealing. He knew he had to apologise to his alpha, seeing he’d been the clueless one, but there he was almost wishing Pike was rubbing his belly because he was carrying their pups  
“It felt like something pulsed...”  
“The body must be giving off magic. Cover your mouth”  
The barbarian’s voice was rougher than he’d meant it to be. He was definitely the dumb beast, but in his defence, his alpha had been with him so long that he hated the way it felt when without it there to hassle him  
“You should cover yours too. Here, cut some of my robe off. You don’t have enough left on yours”  
“You need the extra warmth”  
Pike had a glorious arse, there was no way he was letting anyone catch a glimpse, even if it was some messed up gargoyle thing that wanted to eat them both. The fellinwere’s tail was trapped as it was, the villagers not thinking about how cruel it’d be on him  
“I wouldn’t if I hadn’t set some poor dude on fire. Seriously, Mami would be so disappointed...”  
“Your Mami would understand you didn’t mean to. Blame the villagers. They could have sent us in better prepared. What do we do now?”  
“Get closer? See if we can set it on fire? Oh! Oh! I have an idea, lemme see your sword real quick!”

Neither of the two idiot adventurers had covered their mouthes, Pike starting to cough after asking to the sword, Keith covering his mouth with his hand as he dragged him back closer to the burning door. There wasn’t a lot left to burn, if the gargoyle started flapping its grotesque black wings near the door, the flame was sure to go out   
“Breathe through your nose. You wanted to see the sword?”  
Pike nodded, not looking comfortable over having his mouth covered. Keith kept his movements careful as he moved his hand away  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Just try breathing through your nose. We can’t leave the room until the flames die down, and I’m not leaving you colder than you already are. Here’s the sword”  
Holding it out by the hilt, Pike made motions with his hands that went straight over Keith’s head, frowning deeply at him, Pike covered his mouth with his hand  
“Turn it around, dumbarse”  
“How was I supposed get that from those signals?”  
“Ummm, any one else would. I bet if you asked the party...”  
“Alright, stop talking and start explaining”  
Pike raised an eyebrow, Keith not digging that hole any deeper. Taking the sword by the hilt, he held out towards his lover. Pike looked positively gleeful as he held the torch to the tip of the sword, the blade catching   
“It’s a flaming sword”  
“It’s a flaming sword! This bad boy seems to be able to set everything on fire. Forget figuring how to use a bow, I want one of these bad boys!”  
Coughing after growing too enthused, Pike’s ears dropped. His lover shook his head as Keith went to comfort him  
“I’m okay... air went down the wrong way... we’ve got our magical item... I bet if you stab it, it’ll catch”  
“Seriously, I can do more than stab things”  
“Says you... can you smell that? Ugh... it stinks in here”  
Keith couldn’t smell whatever it was that Pike was smelling. He had his handful with the burning sword as it was. The metal didn’t seem to be melting, nor did the grip seem to be growing hotter, yet he was convinced it was a matter of time  
“I’ll go first. I’ll bring the beast down, then you can come out”  
“Let me...”  
“Just do as your told. It already hurt you”  
“And what if it hurts you?”  
“Have some faith in me...”  
“You already know I do”  
“I’ll try lure it back to the main chamber. We crashed through the right hand side...”  
Pike corrected him  
“The door was on the left”  
Keith was sure he wasn’t correct   
“No, the door was on the right...”  
“You were on the left, you took the... was there door on the left? Yeah, no, the door was this side. You need to go right”  
“But...”  
With a swooping wind, embers of the door were swept inwards. Stupid cheating gargoyles listening to their conversation   
“Go right”  
“If I get lost...”  
“I’m coming after you. I will haunt your arse if you die on me first”  
“We’re not going to die... Okay, here I go”  
It was horribly cliche, pausing mid sentence to kiss Pike, before tearing himself away towards the door. This flaming sword made no sense to him. If the torches could set all manner of things on fire, why hadn’t the walls of the tombs burnt down? That was some pretty lazy spell casting. Plus, why couldn’t the village mages shoot the beast with fireballs? Why wasn’t that a thing? Why were they so damn lazy that they had to said unsuspecting travellers to their deaths?! Keith had good mind to send whoever was pulling the strings a very strongly written letter of complaint, only doing that would result in it ending up Lance’s hands, and they already had so much they needed to discuss as it was. And, if he was too strong in his wording, Lance could fall into another drop on the heels of them all working their hardest to get him out of this one.

Pausing at the door, Keith nearly turned left as he was positive that was the way back to the main chamber, forcing himself to turn right, the beast swooped down with a shriek, Keith running as fast his dress would let him, sword in his hand as he plunged along in the darkness feeling overexposed and underdressed. Glancing back over his shoulder, he ducked and thrust his sword up as the gargoyle swooped him, rearing back from the flame as it clawed legs extended towards his arms  
“Dark!”  
Keith couldn’t see Pike, but the idiot was supposed to wait in safety!   
“Stay there!”  
“Fuck that!”  
Turning to crouch from the claws, Keith felt them rake across his back. How Pike hadn’t screamed was beyond him, because they fucking hurt like quiznak!” Popping up beside him, Pike waved the torch towards the gargoyle, between Keith and gargoyle as he turned back  
“I’m over here!”  
“You’re not supposed to be bait!”  
“I’m not letting this thing ruin my chances of getting laid tonight!”  
“You’re hurt”  
“And you were about to be dinner!”  
Disappearing, Pike popped up on the other side of the gargoyle, the beast roaring as it fall led upwards away from the two points of fire  
“How did you that?!”  
“I’m a rogue... I’m next to invisible if I really want to be”  
“You couldn’t tell me that sooner!?”  
“I’m not letting this foul beast touch your body”  
Pike was going to be pissed when he saw his back... So far the only nails to scratch his back up had belonged to his lover. It was best not to tell him  
“You were safe”  
“I’m not safe if you’re not around, get that into your head already!”  
“Pike...”  
“Start running”  
“What...”  
“Start running! Get it’s attention back on you, I’ve got a plan”

Keith twisted as he started running. Pike had seriously been holding out on him when it came to his abilities. Running towards the entrance chamber, the gargoyle dove at him, Keith tripping over his own feet like the idiot he was. His sword flying from his hand as he bit down on his tongue. If the team had seen him, they would have laughed. All the strength of a Barbarian, flat out the floor. Above him he felt the weight of the beast as it stepped over his prone form, it’s nose sniffing loudly as it ran up his bleeding back  
“Get off my fucking boyfriend!”  
Rolling over, Keith watched as Pike threw himself onto the gargoyle, shoving his torch in its face as the beast reared, trying to dislodge him. Idiocy ran in his pack, Pike pulling off the same move Meklavar had used on Gyro  
“Stab it!”  
Drawing his legs up, Keith crawled backwards, fetching up the burning sword then lunging forward, driving the blade into the soft skin of its exposed belly. Roaring, he was thrown by a furiously flapping wing, hitting the floor and rolling, before pushing himself back up. Soaring upwards, the beast caught fire from his blade, Pike gazing down at him from its shoulder... surely he wasn’t...  
“No... no... no...”  
“I’m going to jump!”  
“No!”  
Too late. Pike leapt from the beast, the torch seemed to be stuck beneath one of its curved horns as it writhed and beat it’s wings. Trying to catch his boyfriend proved useless as they were sent crashing to the floor, Keith crying out as his ripped back impacted against the solid stone, driving the breath from him. He didn’t have time to orientate himself, as Pike was back on his feet and Keith somehow on his, his boyfriend pulling him back up against the shadows of the wall, the gargoyle a screeching ball of flame, Keith peering over Pike’s shoulder as Pike held him by the hips, face turned towards the beast  
“Stay quiet... we have to make sure it doesn’t get back up”  
“I don’t think we have to worry... Tell me again how that yell goes?”  
“What yell?”  
“That one you gave as you decided to jump on its back”  
“Dark... now isn’t the time”  
“That was pretty fucking heroic”  
Pike snorted  
“It worked for Meklavar”  
“I don’t remember her yelling “get off my boyfriend””  
Pike ducked his head  
“I got worried when you left, and decided I didn’t want to wait for you to save me again... I don’t think I can go back to being alone again...”  
“As if I’d leave you alone. We’ve lost the sword now, we should get another torch down in case it’s still alive”  
“You’ll need to boost me up again”  
“Can’t use your roguish ways to reach?”  
“Not when I’m too short. It’s not fair, you’re too tall”  
“You’re perfectly fine the way you are”  
“I feel like that’s what you’d tell Meklavar”  
“She’s who she is, you’re you. I think you’re fine”  
“You better. What were you thinking tripping like that?!”  
“I didn’t mean to”  
“I’m the klutz of the party... I thought for you were doing to end eaten”  
“I’ll save that for you. Do you think that’s the only beast?”  
“Probably not, but I think it’s time to go. Help me up?”  
“You got it”

Keith managed to hide his injury all of five minutes. Lance noticing the blood when he was sliding down Keith’s back. Tracing the wounds with his fingers, his boyfriend mumbled sadly  
“Oh, fuck... it got you”  
“It’s not that bad”  
“It is”  
“You weren’t supposed to get hurt!”  
“It’s a scratch”  
“It’s not a scratch... fuck... I should have...”  
“You did everything right. I’m the one who...”  
“If I’d done...”  
“Pike...”  
Their words fell over each other, both ignoring the flaming gargoyle as it fell to the ground, trying to drag it’s burning form towards them  
“You don’t have to save everyone”  
“Yes I do...”  
“No, you don’t. I was careless for a moment and this happened”  
“But your back... you’ve been hurt enough as it is”  
“This is nothing compared to how much it’d hurt to lose you”

In the background the gargoyle snarled and snapped, Pike on the verge of saying something before turning his back and dropping the torch to the floor. Drawing his bow, he pulled the only arrow he had from the skin quiver on his back  
“I’m going to kill you. I can’t forgive you for hurting Dark”  
Firing the lone arrow, it struck the beast in the eye, the gargoyle surging up one last time before falling. That wasn’t enough for Pike. Picking up the torch, Pike walked over, sticking it firmly up one of the beasts nostrils  
“Died already!”  
Ripping the arrow out, Pike stabbed it down over and over into the creatures face, Keith pulling him back from the clearly dead beast as it’s face started burning properly. The thick leathery skin had been the last piece to catch, despite Pike having shoved the torch in its face when he’d heroically leapt on its back  
“It’s dead, babe. It’s dead”  
“I’m going to kill it all over again”  
“You did. It’s gone, we’re okay. We’re okay now. It’s time to go back to the others”  
“Stupid creepy tombs, and stupid creepy gargoyles”  
“I agree...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the next chapter is gonna be a little bonus...
> 
> This would have been longer if it wasn’t already over 9k... I’m sorry!


	15. Bonus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The other part to trouble that felt tooooo long to include in the previous chapter.
> 
> Please read the previous as “your author attempts to write fluff”

The party of villagers that had walked him the tombs weren’t there when they emerged. With their arms looped around each other’s waist, they leaned on each other as they found the path back to village. Keith’s battle high had hit again, stupidly after the beast was dead, his mind had been on killing the damn thing, yet he’d tripped like an idiot, not that he was going to say that out loud. Pike would think it a dig, and not him being mad at himself. Fighting in robes was ridiculously impractical. Both their robes were dirtied by blood, dust and ash, yet he was happy that Pike was still mostly covered as the night was freezing places of him that he didn’t particularly want frozen. He’d promised to ravish Pike, and now he was hoping that Pike would settle for some light petting and several hours of “dead to the world sleep”... with the lights on because that made Pike feel safer.

Entering the village through a gate woven from trees, villagers stopped to stare as they passed, from a glance it was obvious that the whole village had waited for news, or more correctly, they’d all waited on the chance Pike and Dark failed, meaning the death of their friends. Sucked to be them. The centre of the village was brightly lit so that’s where they headed. Pike loosening his hold, the pair switching to holding hands as they stood as straight as their battered bodies could. Reaching the group, the party was surround. Pidge forgetting she was supposed to be keeping to her characters coldness. Vala holding her hand firmly, as Block and Gryo watched the approach from behind the set of spears the villagers guarding them were holding   
“Pike! You’re back!... You too, Dark!”  
Keith was the after thought, Pike squeezing his hand firmly as he spoke up  
“The beast has been bested”  
The villager that’d had the attitude problem with them all along, stepped forward  
“Where is the proof?”  
No one had asked them to bring back proof!  
“The proof is that we entered the tombs and returned. The beast wouldn’t have let us leave had it not been dead”  
“You have no weapons, yet you stand here”  
“We have no weapons because they were used in battle. The beast burned to death, and will not be getting up again. Now let our friends go. We did what you wanted”  
“You...”

Weathered woman came forward, placing her hand on the villager’s shoulder   
“Lai-Sal, that is enough. We felt the passing of the beast. We have no need for games. You have our thanks. Due to the laws of our ruler, we could not interfere ourselves. We have long waited for those to come who would slay the beast within”  
Keith huffed. So what if they couldn’t interfere? Who was going to know if they told them the truth?! They’d already interfered by deciding it was alright to be sending Pike in after the beast  
“You could have told us from the beginning. Hell, those weapons were a joke. Pike got hurt because of you. Where would you have been if he’d died?”  
“Dark, calm down...”  
“No, I’m not calming down. We nearly died because you keep a gargoyle down there”  
The villager continued   
“Yet, you did not. And for your bravery you have our many thanks. You and your friends are free to walk our grounds amongst us, and we shall aid you in your quest to deliver the Yalexian Pearl to the castle. Tonight you both shall visit the healing springs, then tomorrow a feast shall be held in your honour. I, Ryndery, give you my many thanks. And the many thanks of my people”  
That seemed the sign for all of them to kneel down to Keith and Pike. Keith was pretty much done with the lot of them. The sooner they’d bathed, rested, eaten and left, the better as far as he was concerned   
“Lai-Sal, show our guests to the spring. The rest of you are free to leave”

Pike clung to his arm as they followed Lai-Sal through the village, and through another arch made of trees. The man apparently had nothing annoying to say as they walked in silence until they reached a long and stretch rock walled pond? Keith could only call it what it looked like. Steam rose from the purple water, bioluminescent plants draped themselves around the edges  
“You shall find your change of clothes by the rocks. Enjoy bathing”  
With that Lai-Sal was leaving them, both of them standing there almost nervous about stripping to swim in the warm waters   
“This is stupid”  
“Oh?”  
Looking down to Pike, Pike was scowling   
“We slayed a beast and now we get a special bath... I think you deserve more than that”  
“You did promise to suck me off...”  
Pike rolled his eyes at him with a sigh   
“If you found a way to beat the beast...”  
“Which you did”  
“That was a team effort”  
“You oh so heroically...”  
“If you bring up that yell, I’m going to push you in the water”  
“I thought it was sweet”  
“I think you’re sweet... I’ll help you out your robes, your back has to be tender”  
“What about your arm?”  
“I’ve got two of them, I’m fine”  
“Pike...”  
“Don’t... no talking until we’re in the water”

Pike was a tease and he knew it. His shyness fading as he slipped free Keith’s robes. Fingers ghosting near the cuts across his back as he pressed kisses gently to the wounds. Letting his own robes fall to pool at his feet, Pike turned him slowly, taking his hand to lead him into the warm water. Drawing Keith to the back of the pool, Pike pulled him into his hold, the water deep enough to reach up to their stomach, easy enough for Keith to let himself float as Pike wrapped his arms around him, seating him between his legs   
“I have to give them this. The water feels nice”  
To Keith it felt as if his exhaustion and pain were slipping away, as if he’d never had his back clawed by the beast  
“It’s probably got magic in it...”  
“Mmm, it’s nice. And it’s nicer that we’re alone”  
Keith nodded, twisting in his lover’s hold  
“This is true... I do believe I promised to ravish you”  
“Why rush? The others are safe now, and we have no audience”  
Leaning in for the kiss, Pike responded eagerly, their hold turning to Keith lifting Pike to sit on the rocked edge, his lovers legs spread wide as they rocked against each other. Pike questioned the rush, but right now Keith wanted him so badly it hurt not to be buried deeply inside his lover. Kissing his way from Pike’s very kissable lips, the Barbarian slowly made his way down Pike’s perfect body, enjoying the way Pike’s fingers threaded themselves in his hair. Long lean lines gave way to a clearly curved small amount of belly, Keith peppering kisses on the swell from the pearl  
“Don’t... it’s weird”  
“It’s fine... you’re fine”  
“I look pregnant... I don’t like it”  
“Maybe I do...”  
Pike squirmed as Keith ran his tongue across his flesh, nipping as reached Pike’s hip  
“Daaaark. No. I don’t have the parts for that”  
“Doesn’t mean we can’t practice”  
“I think I’ve had just about enough of you teasing me”  
“Is that so?”  
“Yep... but you know, I think I’m just about the right height to suck on that dick of yours”  
“You’d rather blow me than have me blow you?”  
“Sometimes I wanna spoil you too, you know... Sometimes I wanna see you losing control”  
“That pretty much describes our sex life”  
“Mmm, but I’m in the mood, and you were awfully brave and heroic in that short little dress of yours”  
“Wasn’t a dress...”  
Pike lifted his right leg, kicking Keith in the shoulder with his foot  
“It was short and it was hot. As much as I love you in leather, I could get used to that”  
Keith shook his head. He wasn’t getting turned onto some new kind of kink just because Pike decided it   
“Don’t, it’s not happening again”  
Pike pouted, sitting up and nuzzling into Keith’s stomach   
“Then I definitely should have sucked you off before you stripped... let me suck you off, then wash your hair?”  
“What’s with you and washing my hair?”  
“I like how it feels? I wanna touch you. I wanna make you feel good. We would have been screwed without you today”  
“I’m sure you would have found a way”  
“To become gargoyle food... now stop objecting”

Fucking Pike’s pretty little mouth, Keith choked his lover as he came down his throat. Pike laughing as he coughed, Keith panicked he’d been a tad too enthusiastic, but the way Pike looked at him had him feeling all sorts of things he collapsed again the rocks, finding a small enough ledge that he could slip down to have his shoulders covered as he drew Pike into his lap, loosely looping his arms around his lovers waist as Pike nuzzled into his neck  
“What am I going to do with you?”  
“Keep me?”  
“That goes without saying. Here I was ready to ravish you, but I think you just sucked my brain out”  
Pike laughed, the sound beautiful to Keith’s ears. He hated the game, but moments like this were hard to find. Them alone, beneath a scary sky as they held each other’s as lovers... Dark had good life here with Pike  
“I’ll take that as a compliment... feeling better?”  
“Much. How does your arm feel?”  
“It doesn’t hurt at all. Whatever’s in this water is awesome”  
“We’re in this water, and I happened to know you’re pretty awesome”  
Pike tensed in his hold, before mumbling   
“You’re the awesome one”  
“You’re not used to compliments...”  
Not that Keith was either, they both seemed to be set on deflect when it came to them   
“Not really. I’m not used to this either... it feels like a dream being with you”  
“I hope it’s a good dream”  
“It’d be better if things weren’t trying to kill us... but... the more time I spend with you, the better I feel”  
“Yeah? Then it’s a good thing I plan on staying by your side”  
“Why? I mean, I want you by my side... but I’m just me. A fellinwere from a tiny spot of a village. I’m not wealthy, I can’t give you things, all I have is me”  
“That’s more than enough. You know, you were really brave today. Figuring out the torch and the sword, that was smart thinking”  
“I don’t think I feel very brave... but when I saw that thing over the top of you, all I wanted to do was destroy it. I never wanted you to be hurt”  
“I didn’t want you to be hurt, either. I should have thought about the reach of its claws”  
“You couldn’t have known...”  
“Neither could you. I guess were in the same boat there”  
“I’d rather you not be as bad as I am”  
“There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re smart, and funny. You’re brave and you always do what you think is right. I really like that about you. I’ve always liked that about you”  
“But I’ve been so selfish. You barely spent any time with Gyro since he woke. Then when you do wake, I make you come with me to slay a beast... He’s going to be so mad I let you get hurt”  
“You didn’t let me, and do you really want to talk about my brother now we’re alone?”  
“I do if you do. I want to know what you’re thinking about”  
“I’m thinking about you... and that yell”  
Pike groaned at him  
“Really?”  
“Yep”  
“Obviously I didn’t suck your brains out if you’re still teasing me”  
“Maybe that just means it’s my turn to touch you?”  
“You’re not getting out of washing your hair, buster”  
“Drats, you’re onto me...”  
“Someone has to be. Let me wash your hair and if you’re a good boy, I’ll let you bend me over this rock wall and fuck me until I can’t think straight”  
“You really wanna wash my hair, don’t you?”  
“Yep. Grooming is a thing we fellinwere’s do to show closeness and intimacy... but if that’s creepy...”  
Did draping yourself over partner and promising sex not count as intimacy? Or being alone in a magical pond with just the stars to witness their actions, not count either?  
“It’s not creepy. Nothing about you is creepy. If you want to wash my hair, then I’ll swap places with you. I want to be intimate with you, and only with you”  
“You’re the only one I want, too, I mean... I want to... ugh, I’m falling at words. Words hard. You know what I mean”  
“By now I’ve been around you long enough to get the gist...”  
“Good... because I mean it, Dark... I’m falling more and more for you”  
Warmth blossomed in Keith’s chest as he grinned like an idiot. He had the sweetest boyfriend he could ask for, all he could ask was when Lance woke, he knew that every action and every word had meant.

Pike seemed to enjoy washing his hair, though Keith wasn’t sure it worthy of his deep rumbly purrs. His lovers eyelids were drooping, as if he was the one having his head massages as Keith floated in the water. Every so often, Pike would kiss his forehead, mumble how beautiful he was, then resume purring. The act felt incredibly intimate, Pike’s fingers gently tugging out the knots in his hair, making sure he was never pulling and constantly searching Keith’s face for any signs of discomfort. He felt special. He felt loved and cared for, the enclosed pond their own little bit of paradise in the messed up world of the game. When Pike was done, Keith continued to float, his boyfriend’s hands moving to massage his shoulders as he rested his forehead against Keith’s. Keith wanted to be the one pampering Pike, he wished he wasn’t so socially inept that he knew how to change roles to show his boyfriend how much he cared for him. Letting himself go like this was unnatural. Part of him felt sure some stray arrow would come from somewhere and break the moment, but it never did, the moment playing out naturally, until he found himself turning and kneeling before his lover. Leaning up, the kisses Pike pressed to his lips were so soft and sweet that he felt close to tears from the affection he was being shown  
“Dark?”  
“I’m okay”  
“You look so sad”  
“I’m not used to... to feeling this wanted”  
“Idiot. I always want you... I’ve wanted you for so long”  
“Me too... You really are something else”  
“So you’ve told me...”  
“In a good way... I want to pamper you. I want to take care of you and I want to stay with you”  
“You already do, idiot”  
Keith laughed, standing up to lift Pike back up onto the rocky edge. His lips found his lover’s with easy, Pike kissing him back every much as much as Keith was kissing him. Wrapping his legs around him, Pike’s hands slid up his back, holding him closer as they continued to kiss with such sincerity that Keith forgot it was Pike, not Lance, in his arms.

When their kisses grew more heated, Keith broken them, nipping playfully at Pike’s bottom lip. Unimpressed, the expression on Pike’s face had Keith laughing as he massaged the fellinwere’s hips with the pads of his thumbs. Letting out a laugh of his own, Pike clung to him, both setting each other off again as their eyes met. Letting himself be happy, Keith slowly reined his laughter in, Pike biting his lip as tried to do the same  
“So much for being sexy”  
Quickly Pike shook his head  
“You’re plenty sexy”  
“Am I now?”  
“Yes... now stop making me laugh and show me how sexy you are”  
“I think I can do that... wanna turn over for me?”  
“I want to see your face”  
“So now you have a thing for my face?”  
“I’ve always had a thing for your face. Scar and all... but mostly your eyes. They’re beautiful. Like someone plucked out part of the night sky and stuck it in your head”  
“Oh, babe... that was terrible”  
Pike pouted, Keith already trying not to start laughing again at his boyfriend’s bad description. He’d been teased so many times for his purple eyes that mentioning the shade made him feel uncomfortable, but not with Pike  
“Words are hard!”  
“I know. I know... I’ll make it up to you”  
“Hmm? How?”  
“I know how much you like my fingers...”  
“I have a tail that can do the same thing...”  
Keith raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend, Pike raising one back  
“This I have to see”

Sinking down to kneel, Pike leaned back against the plants as he parted his legs, his tail flicking between his legs. Laying on his tail couldn’t be too comfortable   
“Maybe another time? That doesn’t look comfortable”  
“It’s not...”  
“Why didn’t you say?”  
“Because you were being all grizzly and rugged, man handling me and making me feel all dumb in the head when you kiss me”  
“Okay, no more letting your tail be hurt. Sit up properly, so it’s not trapped”  
“But then I have to move”  
“I’ll pull you back in the water if you’re going to be like that”  
Pike pouted, but moved himself to free his tail, before laying back and trying to look as provocative as he could. Pretending not to notice, Keith shuffled forward, his hands moving to his lovers inner thighs as he sank lower, running his tongue down Lance’s taint and up to his opening. Feeling the need to be just a little bit bossy, he face Pike no warning as he pushed the tip into the centre of the tight whirl. Above him the fellinwere drew his knees tighter together, swearing loudly as Keith started to slowly move, enjoying that Pike was already shaking from such little stimulation. He couldn’t wait to try the same things with Lance. He already knew his lover loved his tongue, where Pike didn’t slick, Lance would. He knew Pike loved it when he kept it shallow and teased his opening, with Lance he was sure he could bring his omega to orgasm with his tongue alone. Growling with pride, Keith was every bit as enthused about licking, tonguing and lapping at his lover’s opening as he’d been about being Lance’s mouth. When Pike was reduced to whimpers, rocking his hips in the chase for more, Keith pulled back, remembered to wash his mouth before rising up to rut against Pike’s saliva slicked entrance. The muscle continuing to twitch despite the stimulation as the muscles in his inner thighs jumped and twitched  
“Ready for me?”  
“Mhmm...”  
“Let me know if I hurt you”  
“You won’t”  
Having given up propping himself up, Pike lay sprawled back in the foliage, an arm up to cover his eyes, as his other hand gripped the rock. Such a good boy for him. He knew he wasn’t supposed to touch himself, and he hadn’t. Lining himself up, Keith moaning lewdly as the velvety warmth of Pike’s walls allowed him entrance, taking his time to bury himself completely inside his lover. Running his hands up Pike’s sides, Pike shuddered beneath him  
“Move your arm”

Hesitant to obey, Pike moved his arm back. His face flushed, and lips parted as let out small panted breaths  
“You’re beautiful”  
Sliding back, Keith thrust forward, Pike arching his neck as he moaned. Fuck... Keith wanted to see his nape. He wanted to bite down and claim him, even if it wasn’t how things worked here. Slowly rolling his hips, he drew out Pike’s pleasure, his own hard to keep contained as he wanted to ride Pike as if in a rut  
“Dark... kiss...”  
Pulling Pike down the rocks, his lover was bent in half as he kissed him sloppily, Pike’s fingertips coming to dig into his back as Keith growled. It confused him, he couldn’t fuck Pike as easily in this position, but his lover wanted kisses... Sensing his annoyance, Pike whispered against his lips as he tried to kiss him again   
“From behind... fuck me from behind... make me scream”

What Pike wanted, Pike got. Bent over the side of the pond, their sex was hard and fast. Pleasure in the pursuit of breeding was how his brain categorised it, despite neither of them being alpha or omega there. Coming across the rocks, Pike slumped with his arse up, Keith lifting Pike’s left leg to kneel as the position felt all that much sweeter. Growling, his free hand groped at Pike’s chest, forcing his lover up, as Keith manhandled him into being close enough to finally get his goal of the fellinwere’s unblemished nape to his mouth. Pike cried out, a fraction after Keith’s teeth sank possessively into the smooth skin, the taste of blood blossoming between his teeth as he came hard enough to black out the initial few moments of his high. Panting through his nose like a beast, he was sure he’d never come harder, or more, than his first experience cumming during a rut. He could feel his seed throughly soaking Pike’s sex, as he continued to thrust through his orgasm. As he regained his senses, his eyes opened, teeth loosening from Pike’s nape as he realised what he’d done. With the utmost care, his whole demeanour switched. Guiding Pike back into the water, he turned, seating himself on the ledge with Pike in his lap, his arms wrapped around his lover’s chest as he rested his chin on the smaller man’s shoulder   
“I’m sorry... I’m sorry... are you okay, babe?”  
Pike didn’t immediately reply, moving slightly forward before flopping back against him and letting his head loll to face Keith with a dopey smile on his face  
“Pike?”  
“I feel fucked...”  
“I didn’t mean to bite...”  
“Felt good... feel like... good”  
Any pain he was feeling must have been vanishing to thanks to the water. Keith still felt panicked from the bite. It was if his alpha had been in control, not him...  
“I’m so sorry”  
“Don’t be... feels good...”  
“I bit you”  
“You just gave me the best orgasm of my life...”  
“I...”  
“Don’t apologise... feeled good... felt good”  
Pike was slurring his words, his eyes barely open as he continued to smile at him  
“Are...”  
“I’m okay... just came hard enough I need a nap. Your dick is amazing”  
If Keith’s face wasn’t flushed from the intensity of how hard he’d chased his released it would have burnt as red as it was. Puckering his lips, Keith leaned in to kiss Pike as Pike hadn’t the strength to move. It wasn’t a great kiss, nothing more than a simple kiss, but Pike smiled all that much more wider as it broke. Keith’s heart was slowly returning to normal, the tightness in his chest from his panic easing as he gazed at his sleepy lover. Pike should be furious with him, yet there he was, smiling so happily  
“I’m still really sorry I lost control”  
“Don’t be... when we’re together, you don’t need to worry... I... liked how it felt... how badly you wanted me... makes me feel so... happy...”  
“I promise I won’t do it again. When I mark your neck, I want it to be because you want me to...”  
“Okay... lemme nap for a bit...”  
It blew Keith’s mind that Pike could be so vulnerable in his hold after what he’d done. Shimmying down, he made sure the water was lapping at the bite mark he’d inflicted. His alpha was going to be laughing it’s head off when he returned to reality.

As Pike napped against him, Keith started bathing him. His lover moving himself off the Barbarian’s spent dick in order to cuddle into him. Hiding his face against Keith’s neck, Pike started to purr in his sleep as Keith washed his hair, finding it adorable when Pike would nudge into the touch of his hands. He was being a fool. He couldn’t spend forever in the game, and he was letting his feelings continue to grow, when Lance might never wake. The thought scared him as badly as he’d been scared when they labelled Shiro lost on the Pluto mission. He’d finally learned and accepted that his feelings for Lance were actual feelings. That those possible futures he’s seen upon the space whale were futures that he wanted to share with the omega. He wanted to court Lance. He wanted to be with him, to learn with him, and to grow with him as a couple. He wanted to fall asleep with his omega safely in his arms, and kiss away all the pain the pack had caused him. He wanted to talk to Lance. He wanted to tell him that he wasn’t okay. That he wasn’t okay with fighting Shiro. That leaving to join the Blade had scared him. That he’d feared he’d fail them. Lance surely had to know about the stunt that had nearly cost him his life... He wanted to tell him because he wanted to be honest with him. He wanted to let himself be honest with Lance. He wanted to return to Earth, because though Earth was technically his home, he held no where near the fondness for it that Lance did. He wanted to see their home planet the way Lance did. He didn’t know how to have a family. He didn’t know what a real family was outside of their pack, and he knew he’d make a million mistakes out of fear of having a family, but he hoped that Lance would be the one to show him how a family loved and worked. He’d been the orphaned boy with the funny eyes, mocked and laughed at by his peers. He thought he just needed Shiro, but though Shiro tried, Keith couldn’t keep his anger over the continued bullying inside. He’d lash out. He’d start fights. He kept people away so they couldn’t leave him. A counsellor would probably say he had abandonment issues, and he did... But with Lance... they both needed therapy, they both had so many demons the biggest bible in the world couldn’t exorcise them all, yet with Lance he felt like maybe those demons could be put to bed. That together they’d be able to get better. 

With how peacefully Pike was resting, Keith carried him from the pond. The fellinwere waking as the cool air hit their skin, cuddling him tightly as he sleepily murmured   
“Dark?”  
“It’s time to head back”  
“Okay... lemme stand?”  
“In a second...”  
They’d been left what appeared to be bathrobes. Keith frowning at the lack of underwear as he supported Pike. Getting Pike into his robe, his love was asleep on his feet, Keith pulling on his robe and tying it before lifting Pike back up into his arms. Letting out a surprise squeak, his boyfriend then sighed at him  
“I can walk”  
“I know you can. Humour me?”  
“Okay... but you’ve got to let me make it up to you”  
“How are you going to do that?”  
“Wanna hold you as you sleep... you’re a good size for holding”  
“Am I now?”  
“Mhmm... perfect cuddling size”  
“I think you’re the one who’s cuddle sized”  
“Pffft... I’m a hero”  
“I’m sorry, my hero. But what does that have to do with anything?”  
“Just shut up... don’t be getting logical”  
“Sorry”  
Pike kissed his neck, settling himself comfortably against Keith for the walk back to the village.

*  
Greeted by who Keith assumed to be guards, Keith was shown back to the tree their room was in. The steps weren’t made for someone carrying their boyfriend, but having come this far he wasn’t about to admit defeat, exhausted by the time he reached the top of staircase, and just a tad dizzy from how it wrapped around the trees. Another guard was there to direct him through to a room, which turned out not to be the same one as the one the team had woken in, despite the fact the team was gathered waiting for them. Set against the far curve of the room was a four poster bed, made from the branches of the tree it’s flowers glowed a light pink, bathing the white bed in warm light. From the centre of the ceiling above the bed came opaque white fabric that formed the canopy and dipped down the sides, allowing access through the gap at the of the bed. The bedding its self was white and crispy, beneath a thick blanket of brown furs. With the eyes of the party on them, Keith stood a little straighter, trying to keep up appearances as he carried Pike over to the bed, and made to settle him down for the night. The Barbarian was quietly proud that he didn’t trip or tangle himself up in the fabric drape. Pike was going to love this place once he woke, plus the added light of the flowers meant his love didn’t have to sleep in the dark. It was slightly fiddly to get the furs back, and Pike under the covers, his boyfriend stirred long enough to move the furs, then fell back to sleep once Keith had placed him down on what would be their bed. Pike kissing him on the cheek was his payment for carrying him back from the pond... which hardly sounded as romantic as it’d been. Double checking Pike was comfortable, Keith treaded lightly as he made his way out from behind the drape and to the small table and chairs where the rest of the party was watching. Pidge had a hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh at him being so stupidly domesticated. Glaring at her, Keith crossed his arms  
“What are you all doing here?”  
“Watching the show... ow!”  
Allura slapped Pidge lightly on the arm with the back of her hand, Pidge rubbing the spot as if she’d been punched   
“We wanted to make sure you were both okay”  
“We’re fine. Tired, but fine. What happened to you guys?”  
“Nothing really. They made us sit in the centre of town under guard. None of them spoke to us about what was going on. Meklavar tried to escape, but she didn’t get very far, and Gyro annoyed them all by comparing Paladin virtues with the town. Are you both really alright? We saw the wounds on your back...”  
“They sent us to kill a gargoyle. Pike saved both our arses. He figured out how to set the sword on fire with the torch off the wall”  
“Pike figured out how to kill a gargoyle? They’re mythical beings. Only magic can kill them”  
“That what he said. The whole tomb had the feel of magic... it reacted to the pearl. We set the thing on fire, then he shot it with an arrow”  
Pidge scrunched her brow  
“He’s a rogue, he shouldn’t be able to use a bow and arrow”  
“He shot it in the eye. It was the kind of shot Lance would have made”  
Block raised his head, Keith had wondered if he’d been sleeping as he had his head down and his arms crossed  
“Who’s Lance?”  
Allura answered was she shot Keith a look for breaking character  
“A friend. He’s a very, very good friend”  
“Oh... I don’t know him, do I?”  
“No... but Pike’s a lot like him. Anyway, you slayed the gargoyle?”  
“Yeah. Too bad if there was something else down there. The water in the pond contained magic. So we’re both healed, and you lot are being evicted”  
Pidge poked her tongue out, scrunching her face up further, this time with disgust   
“Ewwww. You two are gonna have sex”  
“No, we’re going to sleep”  
“Riiiiight. We waited up all night for you, and now you’re brushing us off. Vala, he’s being mean”  
“Sorry, Meklavar, but Dark is right. He does look exhausted, and Pike is already sleeping. There’s not much point talking tonight, not when we could all do with an good nights rest. Our room is just down from here, you take the bridge to the next level down, then Block and Gryo are in the room next to that one”  
The hint there was that Allura wanted to talk to both he and Pidge. Unfortunately for Allura, Keith planned on sleeping for as long as possible, or until Pike woke him  
“Okay. If anything happens, come to us”  
“We’ll be quite alright. We’ll let you rest. Tell Pike we dropped by”  
“I will”

Block and Gyro trailed out behind Allura and Pidge, the door closing behind them without prompting. Gyro seemed weirdly quite, Keith supposing he really probably should have tried to spark up better conversation, but he was too tired. Making his way back over to the four poster, he shrugged off his robe before climbing under the furs and cuddling up to his boyfriend. Pike might have thought he’d be the one doing the holding, but with a little bit of nudging, his boyfriend was spooned up in his arms where he was supposed to be.


	16. ADDED (+Conversation)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided we needed another added chapter... because it totally helps with Pike and the rest of the team...
> 
> As the name says, this one is conversation heavy. As will the next one be, or is planned to be... which might end up being another ADDED+

Keith wasn’t about to admit to the party that he and Pike may have slightly overindulged in being alone together. He wasn’t about to admit that he’d woken to lap full of squirming horny Pike. Nope. He was going to keep those memories firmly to himself, because he was the only one allowed to know what Pike looked like in bed... bent over the bed, on the table, and back on the bed with Pike riding him again. His lover was unfairly attractive, his belly had definitely grown again since inhaling the magic coming from the burning corpse, and seemingly again as they’d slept. Pulled from their well earned bliss, both of them were brought their original clothes by a village guard, who’d proceeded to tell them they were due to join the rest of the village for the celebrations over killing the beast. If Keith could have slammed the door in the man’s face, he would have. The only consolation he had over having his time with his lover interrupted was the the man had had to witness his naked body, fresh with marks across his sweaty skin. By the time they’d dressed, the others were waiting for them, Pike nervously clutching his hand as they left their room to face the outside world with his face against Keith’s shoulder. It may just be his favourite thing when it came to Pike acting shy, him hiding slightly against him, knowing Keith would act as buffer until his bravery came back. Pidge and Allura both knew they’d been busy, yet Pidge also wanted to make the effort with Pike, ignoring whatever joke she was going to make over their tiredness, she offered Pike a smile as she broke the silence   
“Hey, Pike. How are you feeling today?”  
“I’m fine”  
“I didn’t really get a chance to say good job with gargoyle. We did stop by last night, but you were already asleep. Dark mentioned you figured out how to defeat it. That’s pretty cool”  
“We got lucky... Dark...”  
Keith knew his boyfriend was about to deflect the compliment to him, so got in before he could  
“You did most of the hard work. You did well, and you know it”  
“It would have been better if you hadn’t been hurt. I...”  
“Don’t apologise. I’m fine, and you’re fine. That’s the main thing. That shot with the bow was right on target, we might have to start calling you “Sharpshooter””  
Pike shook his head, stumbling his step as they started heading towards the stairs that’d take them down  
“I’m not a sharpshooter. Don’t call me that”  
Something else to add to the list avoid given how agitated Pike’s reply had been  
“No, you’re a rogue. I just mean you did a good job”  
“It was nothing much”

Keith saw the way Pidge’s shoulders slumped. Pidge has probably been running mental simulations of how she was going to approach Pike and work at fixing things between them. It wasn’t her fault that she had no clue how badly things had become in game between her and Pike. Still, Keith had to give her credit for taking that first step. All the warmth Pike had shared with him that morning seemed to have been left in their room with Pike’s confidence   
“Meklavar’s right. You were pretty cool in the tombs”  
“Can we not talk about it? I don’t want to talk about it”  
Pidge nodded, changing topic  
“What do you think of the celebration then? Do you think they’re going to help us on our quest to deliver the pearl? I wonder if they have mounts we can use?”  
“Why are you asking me?”  
“Because I... I haven’t been the best party member and I realise it. I was dismissive and I shouldn’t have been”  
“You has a lot going on”  
“That’s not the point”  
“It kind of is... I mean... You don’t know if your dad made it back to your home village, or where you brother is... or if your homes village is even okay after the attacks from Zarkoff... I’m the weakest in the team... and there’s no point denying it”  
Pidge sighed   
“Look, I messed up and I want to say I’m sorry”  
“You don’t have to apologise for being right”  
“I do, because I wasn’t”  
“You were... I don’t want to go to the feast, do you think they’ll be mad if I don’t?”

Pidge was trying, but Pike kept shutting her down. They both needed time, like he and Pike had needed time, though he’d already had a convenient in due to his physical relationship with the fellinwere. Squeezing his lover’s hand, Keith gently asked his lover’s name. He didn’t know what to say or do, hoping Pike would just tell him wouldn’t work without a little prompting   
“Pike?”  
“I don’t feel well. I want to go back to the room”  
Pike’s anxieties must have gotten too much. Being with the team, then being the centre of attention at the breakfast feast, on top of Meklavar’s sudden change. He could see why Pike had hit his limit  
“Alright. We can go back”  
“You should go with the others and enjoy yourself. You don’t need me bringing you down”  
“You’re not bringing me down, and I’m not going to enjoy myself if you’re not there. If you really want to go back, I won’t stop you, but I do want to come with you”  
He wanted Pike to bask in the knowledge he’d accomplished something. He’d defeated the gargoyle and saved the village tombs. He definitely deserved a treat after facing so many fears  
“That’s not fair”  
“It is what it is”  
“I... can’t do this. Just... go be with the other. I need some space”

Slipping free of his arm, Pike turned back and began walking away. Keith went to go after him, but Allura took him by the arm. He hoped Pike wasn’t going to cry. It hurt to think of him shutting himself up in their room, crying his eyes out and insulting himself because of his unfair anxieties   
“Let him work out what’s going on in his head”  
“He’s upset”  
“And sometimes you need a moment to yourself. We’ll bring him up breakfast, then try again”  
Keith frowned, his heart was telling him to follow Pike, but Allura was right. Sometimes you did need a moment alone to calm yourself back down. Pike had to be thrown by Pidge complimenting him, he probably needed time to work through all that’d been said and done up to the moment she was suddenly being nice to him. The village was a manifestation of the time he felt close to Pidge, Keith knew he wanted to let her back in, yet was scared of things going back to how they were  
“I don’t like this”  
“Maybe I should go? I didn’t mean to upset him”  
“No. Let him think for now. Allura was right, we’ll take him some breakfast. Besides, I think it was calling him “sharpshooter” that threw him. I suppose we’re lucky he didn’t pull a blade and go for my throat again”  
“He did that?”  
“He knew I wasn’t Dark from how I was talking, he screamed and I woke up back on Red”  
“An omega‘s scream. It makes sense if he’s in a drop... Shiro would know what to do”

Pidge looked close to tears, Keith finding himself reaching out to pull the gremlin into a hug. He blamed Pike for the showing him far human contact could go to make someone feel that much better. He wished Gyro were Shiro, but if Gryo was Shiro, he’d probably still tell him that “Patience yields focus”  
“Yeah, he would. Instead we’ve got Block and Gyro. Having Allura here’s helped because she knows the game, but you’d know it better than any of us”  
Pidge sniffled  
“I don’t know this game...”  
“Still, I’m sure that brain of yours is already working on some kind of strategy”  
“I’m trying. How do you do it? With him?”  
Keith knew what Pidge was driving at, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to get in a little teasing  
“Pike’s super experien-... ow!”  
Pidge stomped on his foot, which he deserved   
“Not like that! I mean without your alpha. I keep waiting on mine to say something, but nothing comes up...”  
Ah... yeah. He needed to remember that. Pidge was at the same stage with her alpha as he’d been when they’d been thrown into space   
“It’s not easy. I keep finding myself thinking about what my alpha would do or say. I ended up trying to mark Pike because I’m so I’m so used to it’s presence. I keep reaching out for Black, too. Coran said to use this as an opportunity to get to know each other without our dynamics, but it’s not the easiest thing to do”  
“I hate it. I miss my alpha. I miss our pack”

Keith kissed their pack too. The pack he’d had before he’d left to find his mother. When they were together, talking, being stupid, and their weird little pack family. He knew he’d slipped a few time as his alpha dynamic had shifted to settle into alpha-alpha, but his pack knew he was trying his best not to be a dick about his dynamic. He could lie, and pretend things had been alright, but instead he found himself saying   
“Our pack’s what got us into this mess to begin with. I’m lucky with the class Lance chose for me. Barbarian’s get bursts of strength, kind of like an alpha would protecting their mate”  
“So you’re decided? You’re going to court Lance when we all wake up?”  
“Yeah... My alpha figured out it’s feelings for him long before I did. I owe it an apology for the number of times I’ve called it a “dumb beast””  
Pidge laughed against his chest  
“I think all our alphas have been dumb beasts. I still can’t believe we didn’t pick up on it. Lance has always liked physical touches. He’s always liked being in bed too. Whenever we had movie nights or games nights, he’d always make sure there were blankets”  
“We weren’t meant to realise. That’s why we didn’t. He wanted to be seen as himself and not by his lesser dynamic. It probably goes a long way to explaining how we kept our alphas inline as it was”

Pidge raised a hand to rub at her left eye, Keith knew he wasn’t supposed to notice the change in the way she clung to him  
“Keith... we weren’t very good friends, were we?”  
“No. I don’t think any of us were. This isn’t just on you, it’s on all of us. We should have spent more time together as pack”  
“Yeah... it’s just... he always... he always managed to get in the way. I know he wanted to help, but sometimes I just didn’t understand why he’d bother us”  
“Because he cares. There’s a lot I want to tell him when we wake up. And a lot I want him to tell me too. I’ve been avoiding talking about Kuron, but Pike helped me see that I’m not as okay as I’ve been pretending to be. He’s not okay either... even before he dropped he wasn’t doing too well. But we’ll get there. And, he’s right too, you need to talk to us too. About your dad and Matt. With how smart you are, sometimes we all forget how young you are”  
“It’s stupid compared to what he’s going through”  
“Pike would tell you you’re stupid for saying that. He’ll warm up to you. He’s already noticed the change in Vala, and he’s accepted her apology. You wouldn’t be in the game if he didn’t want to make things right with you too. Don’t forget that”  
“When did you become so wise?”  
“Somewhere between being shot by bandits and killing a gargoyle?”

Pidge snorted, shoving him away as she did. Her demeanour changed as her mood lifted again  
“Did you at least get loot for killing a mythical beast?”  
“I got a different kind of treasure”  
The dwarf faked retching. Pidge thought he meant sex, Keith meant the hours that he and Pike had spent together in the pond beneath the starry sky. The two of them alone, not just having sex but being intimate together   
“I don’t want to know about that kind of plundering! You’re my pack leader!”  
“You’re the one who asked”  
“I meant gold! Not booty!”  
Allura attempted to pacify Pidge   
“Pidge, I’m afraid Keith is not the alpha we knew on the outside. You’re going to have to get used to him like this. He’s truly hopeless without Pike around”  
Grumbling, Pidge crossed her arms  
“He was hopeless without Lance around. Dark and Pike sitting in a tree...”  
Even as a grumble, the second sentence carried that annoying sing-song tone to it   
“Finish that sentence and I’ll push you off these stairs”  
“You wouldn’t”  
“I might... I wonder if dwarves can fly?”  
Pidge grabbed Allura’s arm, Allura laughing at the pair of them  
“That’s enough. You’ve teased each other enough. We’re keeping our guests waiting”

*  
Keith tried his very half-heartedly hardest to sit through breakfast, but as Meklavar and Vala both fell into techno babble with Ryndery, and Block was questioning the villagers bringing them food about what was in it, his conversation choices were limited to Gyro or simply keeping his mouth shut. None of what was happening gained his attention until Meklavar and Vala shifted their conversation towards the journey to deliver the pearl. Finally finding out anything would be huge. He knew he was cutting in on the conversation, and that he should have let it play out naturally, before the game got any other ideas how to fuck them over, but his mind, like his heart, was filled with Pike  
“What was that about the pearl? Do you know why Pike’s body has started to change?”  
“Dark...”  
Ryndery raised her hand to silence Allura, fixing him with her big buggish eyes  
“You wish to know, to help your companion?”  
“Pike is more than my companion”  
“The Yalexian Pearl is a complicated thing. It has been tampered with, and currently it grows with essence of your companion. We have agreed to aid in your quest of taking the pearl to the castle, but know it might not bring the desired results”  
“What do you mean?”  
“The closer your draw to the castle, the more the pearl shall feed upon your companion. It grows inside with the energy he provides. Energy that must not fall into the hands of your enemies, or more than just Pike shall lose his life”  
“What’s... are you saying if we go to the castle he will... die?”  
“No one knows what awaits you there. No one has set out to reach the castle in as long as we can remember. But as you grow closer, he will grow weaker. The spell placed upon him when trying to draw the pearl from his soul ensures this. Had the spell not been cast, we can only speculate that he would reach the castle only to have been left soulless by its extraction. It is far better to lose your life than live without your soul”  
Meklavar was on her feet a fraction before Keith, slamming her hands on the table, she spoke for all of them  
“Pike isn’t going to die. We’re not going to let him die! We’re going to the castle then we’re going home”

Ryndery cast them all a look of pity  
“I can only cast speculation on the most probably of outcomes. If I were you, and held his life as dearly as you do, I would turn back”  
Turning back wasn’t an option. This had to be the game. The game didn’t want them to finish until it’d drained every bit of energy from them that it could. Keith was filled with anger all over again. It wouldn’t even let them have this. This village and the previous night, it was supposed to be... it wasn’t supposed to be like this  
“Pike isn’t going to die that easily. If that’s all you have to say, I’m going back to our room”  
Gathering up whatever his hands could reach, Keith filled his plate before leaving the banquet table in a huff. He liked to think his silence spoke volumes, but knew in reality he was acting petty towards their guests. They hadn’t come this far to turn back now. They’d made it this far with the belief reaching the castle would end the game, not Pike’s life. His boyfriend wouldn’t die like this. He wouldn’t be letting that happen, not when he’d already made so much progress with getting Pike to both trust and confide in him. He kept saying he wanted the last of Lance’s days to be the best he’d ever had, but that didn’t mean he was prepared to let himself consider them that way. Once they got to the stupid castle, they’d beat whatever end boss was waiting, then they’d all wake up and everything was going to be okay, because he couldn’t cope with it not playing out that way. He had to believe that he’d have a chance with Lance outside of the confines of the game. With Voltron having been missing for three years, the castle destroyed, and Honerva out their somewhere, they didn’t have the luxury to sit back and relax, but that was exactly what his pack was going to do. The planet they’d landed on lacked sentient life, they had provisions and each other. They needed to make time to heal as a team before waltzing back into whatever was waiting for them when they got home. Besides, Lance was going to need constant care, and time to recover his strength after his drop. Rushing to form Voltron was likely to send him into another drop, or even worse the strain it took to be a pilot when they were all connected could trigger feelings in all of them. As pack leader he couldn’t lead his pack into a possibly bad situation after this one. They all needed time to heal, so their vacation was going to be mandatory whether the pack liked it or not.

Returning to the room he shared with Pike, Keith tapped on the wooden door, before letting himself in. Sitting on their bed, Pike momentarily took his breath away. The fellinwere was sunning himself as he worked at something in his hands, it wasn’t anything particular about the moment, it was just the way the sun hit his face. He looked relaxed, off guard, his tail coiled lazily in his lap as his ears stood upright. Pike’s hair was messed, in a way that was kind of childish and cute. Noticing him, Pike smiled in his direction, Keith stomach then deciding to bottom out with his mind reminding him that Ryndery had said Pike would die at the end of their quest  
“Dark? You okay?”  
Moving to place the plate of food on the table, Keith then strode over to their bed, crawling up between the gap in the drape to throw himself around his lover  
“Whaaa...?”  
Pike wasn’t going to die again. He wasn’t. If he even so much thought he was going to, then Keith would have to kick his arse back   
“I missed you”  
Nuzzling into him, Pike abandoned whatever was on his lap to wrap his arms around him  
“Idiot, you weren’t gone that long”  
“It was long enough”  
“Oh woe is me, all these people made a special breakfast and I had to be honoured...”  
“It wasn’t that great. Vala and Meklavar did most of the talking”  
“So... she’s okay?”  
Pike had to mean he’d been worried over Pidge after he escaped back to their room  
“She’s fine. I think she wants to reconnect and fix things, but doesn’t know how”  
“I don’t know...”  
“I do. She said as much. Maybe you two can talk later?”  
“I... uh, yeah... maybe”  
Keith kissed Pike’s neck, knowing his anxieties would be rising   
“There’s no pressure”  
“It’s not that... it’s just... yeah”

Breaking the hug Keith sat back on the bed, crossing his legs as he did  
“What did you get up to while I was gone?”  
The question wasn’t supposed to make Pike look at him guiltily, and he didn’t understand why his boyfriend would until he hesitated on showing Keith what he’d been working on  
“I found this... in your coin purse. The end was poking out... I’m sorry”  
In the fellinwere’s lap sat the strip of blue cloth Keith had forgotten he’d bought. The edges now neatly stitched, with about an inch left on the end to still do  
“I bought that for you... I couldn’t find a headband, so I was going to sew it into one”  
Pike’s big blue eyes widened  
“You bought this for me?”  
“Yeah. It was going to be a surprise, but with everything happening... I’m sorry”  
“What? Why are you sorry? The fabric is so pretty. It matches the necklace you got me...”  
“But you’re the one who ended up sewing it”  
“I was only doing that for you... I didn’t think this was for me”  
“Who else do we know with eyes that blue? And I did promise you a new headband”  
“I thought you forgot...”  
“I know I’ve been pretty shitty in the past, but I never forgot. And I never forgot about you”  
Pike’s cheeks dusted red as he ducked his head. His thumbs rubbing the soft fabric  
“It’s really pretty. I love it... Will you help me put it on?”  
“Yeah, when it’s done. I’m not the best at sewing, but would you mind if I finished the ends?”  
“I’d like that... I’m sorry I lost it earlier. I kept waiting for her to... to say something else and it threw me when she didn’t”  
“It’s fine. She realises how horrible she’s been. She didn’t realise she was doing it at the time, she thought she was joking, and I guess she took it too far”  
“She’s always thought she had something to prove... but... it really hurt to be told how useless I am... even when I’m trying”  
“I know, babe. You’re not useless. You’ve never been useless. If I remember right, you saved my life yesterday. All heroic...”  
Pike cut him off  
“I know you’re not trying to hurt me, but I feel stupid every time you bring up that yell”  
Keith softened immediately, the budding smile on his lips at the memory fading   
“I didn’t mean to upset you. I don’t want to upset you. I’m not trying to make fun of you, if anything I... I’m saying it because it made me feel special. Hearing you being possessive of me, it felt nice to be cared about”  
Pike bit his lip, looking away before letting out a deep breath   
“I didn’t think about it like that”  
“And I didn’t think I was hurting you. Thank you for telling me how it made you feel”  
“It’s stupid...”  
“You’ve been through a lot. It’s not stupid. I’m not in your head, so I can’t know when I’ve upset you”  
Pike wasn’t ready to be teased yet... even if it had made Keith feel wanted. It was such a ridiculous thing to yell, the kind of thing only Pike would think of yelling at blood thirsty beast. That’s what made it so damn sweet  
“I feel stupid. You’re like, the best person I’ve ever met, Darkstorm. When I look to the future, I think of you... but sometimes... I feel like I’m drowning in my own stupidity. Like all of this is some dream, and I’m not going to like whatever I wake up to... Meklavar and Block... being too busy again. Vala nursing her heart over that creepy ex-pirate boyfriend. You back with Gyro... I know you two haven’t been talking. I know it and I hate it... and I hate... how happy it makes me when you make feel I can rely on you. I feel... desperate. Stupid and desperate because I keep making these mistakes, then you’re there and you... you’re the kind of person that makes the world better by simply existing... and I keep... I keep thinking about all the things you must have been through. All the times you needed someone to be there only to find yourself alone... I’m scared because I was never there for you like you are with me... and I’m scared... that one day I’ll turn around and you’ll be gone again. I mean, like, you found your mum. You should be enjoying your time with her. You should be getting to know her and her clan. Neither of us can take your pain away... and it really quiznakking hurts because you’re a good man. You’re... My head’s a jumbled mess, but you... you quieten the noise”

Keith sat in silence for several long moments as he processed what Pike had said. The first part sounded dangerously close to what’d happened in reality, then Lance had reminded him that they hadn’t really talked about his mother coming back into the picture. Not in depth. Not like talking about Gyro, at any rate  
“Do you want to know more about my mum?”  
Pike’s right ear flicked before his boyfriend turned to look at him again   
“I don’t want you to feel you have to. I just meant, it would have been nice for you to be with her longer”  
“I know. I want to tell you about her. She’d love to know you too. She told me I talked a lot about you”  
“I don’t know if I like that”  
“Nothing bad, I promise. But meeting her again, after all this time... I don’t know what I was expecting. I... she filled in the gaps of my life I didn’t know, but I don’t know... there’s some things she can’t possibly understand about me, and things about her I can’t understand either... I don’t know what it’s like to have a mother’s love... not growing up...”  
“Dark, you still had plenty of growing up to do when you met her. I don’t know why she had to leave, but I’m sure she regrets it every single day. I’m sure she regretted it every single day, not watching you grow into the amazing man you are”  
“That... we can never have that... and I hate it”

Two years on the space whale hadn’t left many secrets between them. For better and for worse. His mother had seen his worst moments. He’d felt her grief as well as his own as he’d relieved it. The weight of the memories a double edged sword as it reminded them that they didn’t have each other. Krolia wasn’t there to bury his father. She wasn’t there on the days he’d come from school with skinned knees because the school bully tripped him over being an orphan. She wasn’t there to make cheesy school costumes. Nor was she there to make him chicken soup when he was sick. He’d spent his whole childhood thinking she’s left because something was lacking in him. That might not be the case, but after 16 years of separation, the wounds weren’t easily healed. He still felt unsure and unworthy. The only thing that had changed was the control he held over his anger. He was no longer lost and alone. He was no longer an orphan... but... even if Krolia left for the best of intentions... why couldn’t they have gone with her? Why couldn’t he have been more important than her mission? He knew these answers. He’d felt her guilt over them, but he had his own anxieties. Anxiety never listened to truth or reason. The voice in the back of his head wasn’t always his alpha. No. Sometimes it was his own voice, and the voice of every teacher who’d given up on him. Every foster parent and shitty kid at school. All of them telling him that if he just did better, if he did better and always got everything right, then people would like him more... but he couldn’t get things right all the time... if he let himself slip then they’d see him for himself and leave, so it was far better to be a failure from the start. He couldn’t lose anything that way. An exercise in deception that Shiro saw straight through.

Setting the headband aside, Pike gathered Keith up against him, laying back to they fell into a tangle of limbs. Stroking his hair, Pike held him tightly  
“It’s not fair. I would trade my life it meant you could have all those memories you deserve. I know you wanted to meet my family, but I think once we’ve delivered the pearl, you should talk to your mum. You should make new memories together. See things together. It won’t make up for those years you spent apart, but all memories are precious, even the bad ones because they led you to me... I know it sounds selfish, but you’re my rock, Dark. I hate what you must have gone through, and I don’t have the right to pry because let’s face it, everyone has things they want to keep to themselves, so you don’t ever have to tell me more than you’re willing or able to. And the things you tell me, it’s not going to change the way I look at you. And I’m not about to tell anyone either. What you say and who you tell, that’s your choice. You’re decision for whenever you’re ready. I’d love to know more about you mother, but it’s okay for you to not tell me, and it’s okay for you to keep things to yourself. Just as long as you know, whatever you tell me, I’m not judging you. I see you, Dark... and I think you see me too”

If he wasn’t in love with Pike before, his sincerity had definitely pushed him over from “like”. His words bringing tears to Barbarian’s eyes as he nosed into Pike’s chest  
“What if I can’t find the right words”  
“Then you’ll used all the wrong ones first. Like I said, there’s no rush for you to talk. I just want you to know that I see you for who you are, and that I’m always ready to listen. Your words are important to me. So are the things you feeling and thinking. It’s all valid. You’re valid”  
“Validation” wasn’t what Keith had been seeking. He didn’t know that he had been, but hearing Pike’s made him think that maybe he was. He’d shown up out of the blue with his mother in tow. Voltron had vanished for three years. Shiro nearly died all over again. Lance was dying thanks to his red heat... everything was so much to carry. He felt he needed to be the one who carried it all, yet Pike was right there telling him that he didn’t. That it was okay to be mixed up over thing. Pike said he didn’t judge him, yet Lance was dying and he... he was so stupidly in love with him. If he’d just pushed aside himself and his ego, and seen through the omega’s facade sooner...  
“I don’t want to lose you”  
“You won’t. Not in this reality or that other reality you’re always going on about. I spent a lot of time thinking about you while you were on your quest, and sometimes you act like you’re two separate people in the same body, but at the heart of it you’re still you”  
Keith raised his head almost shyly, Pike smiling down at him as their eyes met  
“I think I want to tell you about my mum”  
“Then tell me”

Laying in Pike’s arms, Pike listened as he spoke. There were plenty of things he couldn’t say, not to Pike when Pike’s reality was this world, but he found there was just as much he could say. Through it all, Pike held him. He kissed his hair, and soothes him softly when things got hard to talk about. Keith finding himself not just talking about his mother, but about Shiro, and his confusion over the party not being as he remembered it. Emotionally exhausted, he talked himself to sleep in the arms of his lover.


	17. Truth

Pike was awake as Keith stirred in his arms. The Barbarian’s eyes felt sore from the amount of crying he’d done. Propped up, Pike was drawing lazy patterns across his armour as he smiled down at him  
“Hey, you”  
Keith gave a small smile, tinged with embarrassment over letting it all out  
“Hey, yourself. Enjoying watching me sleep?”  
“Mmm. You needed it, we both needed it. How are you feeling?”  
“Better... tired... How long have you been awake?”  
“Not too long. I know we didn’t plan for a nap, but napping in the sun feels so nice”  
“You feel nice”  
Sliding his hand under Pike’s arm and up to his back, Keith pulled Pike down for a kiss. Pike sighing gently against his lips as it broke  
“Pike?”  
“I think I want to talk to Meklavar... and Vala...”  
“You do?”  
Pike sighed again, letting his weight drop to lay across Keith. The position was awkward, and only lasted a moment before Pike was pushing himself back up  
“Yeah. Yeah... You were honest with me. They both apologised, but I don’t think... I don’t know if they understand why I was so hurt by them, or if they understood why I felt like needed an apology from them. If they... if they want to change, and want to try to fix things, then I... I can’t frost them out any longer”  
“You don’t have to force it if you’re not ready”  
“That sounds vaguely familiar... I think... I think if I can maybe it’ll help... can you be there? When I do?”  
“Yeah, babe. Whatever you need”  
“I don’t mean to act as a buffer, but... maybe if I fuck this up, you can tell me? I don’t know where to start”  
“You won’t fuck it up. Does this mean you’re going to talk to Block and Gyro?”  
Pike bit his lip, Keith about to panic he’d pushed him too far when he Pike shook his head  
“I... it’s horrible of me, but not just yet. It’s not Gyro. I know the mean things he was saying wasn’t him. I don’t hold a grudge over the actions he took while cursed... but Block... he was my best friend. I genuinely thought we’d be best friends forever, but...”  
“It hurt you the most when he stopped talking to you?”  
Pike nodded, his eyes growing teary  
“I don’t know what I did to annoy him so much... I thought that... he didn’t used to make me feel stupid. He didn’t used to look down on me and laugh about me behind my back. I don’t want to be friends again only for him to abandon me again when someone better comes along. He was... he was my go to guy, you know? When I was feeling homesick, or the just sucked, I went to him. I guess having me around just sucks the life out of everything... I... I tried to push past it. All the times I asked if he wanted help or wanted to hang out, he was always busy but I kept asking because I wanted to be some use to him... but I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t smart like Meklavar. He couldn’t have a proper stimulating conversation with someone as stupid as a sack of potatoes. He... outgrew babysitting me... and I didn’t even realise it because I thought we were friends...”  
“Hey, no. You are smart. You’re kind and you weren’t just asking to hang out for your sake. You always put the party above your needs. I have proper conversations with you, does that make me stupid?”  
Pike sniffled and shook his head  
“No. You’re the best man I know”  
“So if I’m not stupid, and I want to talk to you, that means you’re not as stupid as you keep telling yourself you are”  
“I feel pretty stupid”  
“Really, I thought you felt like Pike”  
His reply drew a sniffled bark of a laugh from his lover. Pike settling back down against him  
“I don’t know. My head is pretty scattered... sometimes I feel like maybe I’m the one who’s two different people”  
“Does that make having sex a threesome?”  
Pike slapped his hand lightly against Keith’s chest  
“You’re a menace. You know that, don’t you. There’s more to me than my arse”  
“I know... it’s just such a nice arse”  
“Don’t tell me you want to do me”  
“Not right now... let’s save that for tonight? I wonder if we can sneak back down to that pond?”  
“It wasn’t a pond, it was a hot spring... and I don’t think it was a repeat offer... as nice as that would be”  
“Says the man who fell asleep”  
“That was your fault... if you haven’t plowed my arse into space, I wouldn’t have been so tired”  
“Does that mean you don’t want me plowing your arse again?”  
Pike groaned at him  
“Don’t start something if we’re not going to finish it”  
Keith’s own dick was definitely getting ideas due to their flirty banter. Pike needed to have that conversation with Allura and Pidge as soon as possible, meaning he’d have to rein in his damn horniness. Seriously, what was with him? It was like he was addicted to Pike’s arse... he wasn’t some rutty hormonal teen anymore... Lance would be laughing his arse off he could see his mental struggle not to jump Pike. Plus, his lover still had tears in his eyes... he’d only wanted to make him smile, not leave both of them frustrated. Mentally groaning to himself, he patted Pike’s hip  
“You’re right. When do you want to talk to Vala and Meklavar?”  
“I don’t know, soon? I don’t want to interrupt them if they’re busy...”  
“I kind of stormed off during breakfast... fuck, you haven’t eaten yet”  
“I’m not hungry”  
“Yep, you are. Come on, you need to eat something. You haven’t eaten since yesterday... I’m such an idiot...”  
Starting to sit up, Pike wasn’t making moving easy. He knew Pike hadn’t kept the best diet of late, which meant he needed every calorie he could get  
“Dark... you’re not an idiot”  
“What kind of idiot forgets his boyfriend hasn’t eaten, even after bringing up a plate for him. You need something to eat”  
“I’m not hungry”  
“Then eat for my sake. So I don’t feel so stupid having grabbed random food off the table before storming back here”  
“You... did what now? Oh, babe. I know you don’t like people, but was it really that bad?”  
With what Ryndery had said, yeah, it’d been that bad  
“I didn’t have anyone to talk to and it sucked. All I wanted to do was come back up here and be with you”

With a dramatic sigh, and cup full of over exaggeration, Pike climbed from their bed. Standing at the end, he gave a bow, Keith’s forehead wrinkling in confusion over the act  
“If I have to eat, you have to eat. Do me the honour of eating these cold, stolen, left overs with me?”  
His boyfriend was a fucking idiot. Climbing off the bed after him, Keith looped his arms around Pike’s waist, hoisting him into the air as he carried him towards the table  
“What am I going to do with you?”  
“Hopefully put me down gently?”  
“I think I can manage that. We’ll have... whatever this is, then I’ll see if we can find Vala and Meklavar so we can sit down and talk all of this through”  
Pike dropped a kiss on the top of Keith’s head, as Keith made to lower him down  
“Alright...”

*  
Meklavar and Vala came to find them as Pike was picking at the plate of cold food. The movements of his body, the way he carried himself, told Keith that his boyfriend was starving, forcing himself to pick slowly at the meal as if he thought it’d be taken away from him at any time. Forcing himself to take one of the bunch of berries, Keith ate purely for Pike’s sake. Pike wouldn’t eat if he didn’t, despite the fact Keith had eaten during the breakfast banquet. His poor boyfriend flinched at the knock on the door, nearly dropping the torn piece of pastry like food in his hands  
“Relax, I’ll check the door”  
Pike didn’t relax, Keith sidestepping to kiss between his ears on his way to the door. On the other side was Pidge and Allura, and for some reason Gyro. Leaning back into the room, Keith said to Pike  
“Don’t worry, it’s the others”  
Leaning out the doorway, Keith checked for Block. He needed Block to babysit Gyro  
“Don’t worry, Keith. Block isn’t here”  
Keith looked from Pidge to Gyro, who shrugged his shoulders  
“Don’t look at me, I’m not completely sure why I’m here and Hunk isn’t”  
“Holy-fucking-quiznak!”  
Throwing himself at his brother, Shiro wrapped his arm around him. Lance was still scared of Gyro, yet for so some strange reason, his brother now stood before him  
“What? When? How?!”  
Shiro patted his back, before releasing him, ruffling his hair as Keith forced himself to pull away  
“I don’t know. I was checking on you, then the next moment I was here... Is Lance in there?”  
Fuck. Yeah. Right. Shit... Pike wasn’t ready to talk to Gyro yet... he was using his courage to talk to Allura and Pidge  
“Crap. Okay. Okay... I’m happy to see you, but right now I need to borrow Pidge and Allura”  
Shiro raised an eyebrow, Keith looked to Allura who was kind of more dependable when it came to explaining the situation  
“Did you explain everything?”  
“Most parts... it happened so suddenly”  
“Well I’ve got Pike ready to talk to the both of you... but he’s still a bit scared of Gyro and Hunk... Block”  
Keith’s heart was racing. He knew he was smiling like an idiot, relieved to be reunited with Shiro. Shiro wasn’t like him. Shiro has infinite stores of patience, not quick to act on his emotions... He well and truly personified the name of “Space Dad”, a role that had been forced upon him. Shiro didn’t have to take care of them, yet he had... while coping with everything he’d been through  
“Pike’s ready to talk to us?”  
Pidge sounded so hopeful, Keith nodding as that smile on his lips finally started to slip  
“Yeah. I got him talking, we talked, and he wants to talk to you guys about... what happened between you. Fuck... I told him I’d stay”  
Shiro ruffled his hair again  
“That’s fine. We can talk after... This place is pretty crazy”  
“You have no idea. I’m so happy to see you”  
“You too. We have a lot to talk about when you get the chance”  
“Pike wants me to talk to Gyro, I have the feeling he’ll want some time after we’ve talked... Fuck... I’m so happy to see you”  
“You too kiddo, I’ll head over and wait in your room until you two are done. I don’t really know why I’m here or what to do now that I am. I thought Hunk would be here before I was”  
Hunk’s name hurt to hear. Being Lance’s best friend, he’d hurt him more than his hero had  
“That’s complicated. Okay, remember what he says is influenced by the game... so things aren’t completely in line...”  
“Keith, you’re making me nervous. Just let us in already”  
Pidge whined at him, the dwarf really did want to make this right  
“Okay... but... don’t be too hard on him”  
“I’m not going to pick on your boyfriend”  
Keith huffed, Shiro cast him a not quite approving look. Poor Pike was probably worrying himself sick wondering what they were saying. He knew Allura and Pidge also had to be worrying over what Pike was going to say... None of them had any clue how Lance would explain everything within the confines of the game  
“If you upset him, I’ll kick you out”  
“We know. Seriously, Shiro. You should see him. He’s whipped as heck over Pike”  
“I’m sure I’ll see so soon enough. Go talk to Pike. See if you can get some of those answers you’re both looking for”

With how nervous Pike was, Keith drew him to their bed. Sitting with his back against the bedhead, his boyfriend sat between his legs, the fingers of both their hands intertwined with each other. Pike had tried to pull away, but Keith wasn’t having it. He wanted Pike to know he was right there with him for all of this. In front of them sat Allura and Pidge, both with their legs crossed as they all waited for Pike to gather his thoughts. The fellinwere’s tale flicked near the base, his ears down, and he absolutely refused to lean back into Keith’s hold. Pike had the same problem Keith had faced many a time. The problem of how and where to start. Casting a glance to Allura, the archer took the hint, reaching out to place her hand on Pike’s knee  
“Pike, whatever you want to tell us, we’re not going to be mad with you. Meklavar and I have both been terrible friends”  
“I... yeah. I don’t know where to start... I guess... I must have done something to make you both hate me and I... I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough for both of you, and I’m sorry that I did whatever it was that hurt you... I guess I don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me? Vala... I’m sorry if I ever made you feel uncomfortable. I know... I flirted with you, but’s that... it started out because you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met, but I kept flirting with you because I seriously liked you. You’re smart, you’re funny, you lost everyone and you’re so strong. You don’t complain. You don’t lean on us. Even when it had to be breaking your heart... I wanted you to feel special. To feel loved and beautiful... and everything time I flirted with you, you’d sigh, roll your eyes at me, but then you’d smile. I wanted to make you smile... if it was too much, I wish you’d told me...”

Pike didn’t give Allura time to reply, he took a deep breath before launching right into explaining things to Pidge  
“And you, Meklavar, I’m sorry. I know I’m not smart. I’m not like Block, and I can’t keep up with all you’re talking. I wasn’t trying to annoy you... I missed my friends... I missed being friends with you. I know you were busy, but all I wanted to do was something for you... Even if I was useless, I wanted you to know I was there for you... You get so focused on work that you forget to eats and sleep... sometimes you get so caught up strategising that you can’t even think straight anymore... and I know we were all... busy, but... I just wanted to help... even if I’m stupid. I made you hate me. I made you avoid me because I’m so stupid that I didn’t realise how much you actually disliked me... I wanted to help... I wanted to be wanted... I didn’t think you and Block were the kind to smile at my face while you laughed about me behind my back. I know I’m the dumb one. The loud and obnoxious one. I know I’m the weak link. The useless one... I don’t have much of anything to contribute... and what I did have wasn’t enough... I trained for hours, I tried and I tried... when we were travelling I’d take my problems away... but you all thought I was sleeping around. You... none of you trusted me. None of you tried to talk to me. None of you noticed when I wasn’t at meals. None of you wanted me there because I wasn’t ever good enough. You... I know I’m not Dark... but why couldn’t I be enough? Dark told me once to leave the math to Meklavar, when I wanted to leave the party... but how I feel... I feel like the party would be better if I left forever. I already feel on the outside. I know how much I annoy you... You’re like so smart. You’re brave and funny, like Vala... but you’re never not thinking. You bring so much to the party... we would have died so many times if it wasn’t for you. All I ever did was put us in danger”

Pike’s voice shook as he gripped Keith’s hands. His boyfriend finally allowing himself to seek comfort in his arms as leaned back into the hold. Allura and Meklavar were both in tears. Twisting, Pike hid his face against Keith’s neck as his tears rolled down his face. His boyfriend had mentioned that sometimes a slap across the face hurt less than words, Pike’s words had been both a slap to the face and a punch to the gut. Keith was proud that the fellinwere had found his voice. Lance was loud and annoying, he wasn’t denying that, no, what he was trying to say was that while he’d been loud and annoying he was trying to make them all smile. He was trying to be the one they could vent to, and vent on.

“Oh, Pike... I am so sorry. I... never... I must confess I knew you held feelings towards me, but I never thought of you like that. I always thought you were loud and goofy, that you never took things seriously. I grew use to you flirting with me, and I’m sorry I couldn’t return your feelings. You saved my life, and I did something so horrible to you because I was so caught up in how foolish I’d been. You’re an integral part of our te-party. We wouldn’t have been brought together if it wasn’t for you. I should have spoken up”  
Allura struggled, Keith could see it on her face. She couldn’t voice her thoughts as a Paladin, or as a Princess. She could only play within the limits of the game. Pidge started crying harder, Allura wrapping her arms around her  
“You’re such an idiot! Why couldn’t you tell me? Block and I were joking, but it’s not a very funny joke when people’s feelings are hurt. We should have made time for you, but we got so caught up in the excitement of everything happening... You’re my big brother... Yeah, you’re loud and annoying, but that’s comforting. Like being home with my brother. You’re part of the party. Vala’s right, you brought us together. You held us together. You always checked on us, and we didn’t check on you. I shouldn’t have snapped at you for wanting to help. You probably couldn’t have, but you wanted to. You’re my big brother... and I’ve been a terrible friend”  
Pidge wasn’t as complimentary as Pike had been, but for her to be... Keith much preferred her being true to herself  
“You both had a lot going on. Your dad and your brother... I couldn’t help you there. I couldn’t find them. I couldn’t bring them back. I can’t tell you if they’re okay or what they’re doing. I made it all worse. I tried to tell you things about me... and it was so self centred. I was trying to tell you I understood using things that had happened to me but it came across all wrong. I talked too much about me and made you hate me”  
Pidge shook her head  
“No. I didn’t get what you meant... I... I honestly didn’t notice you were trying harder because I wasn’t there to notice. I should have been there, instead of bouncing ideas with Block. I didn’t get you were trying to sympathise. I’m so sorry, Pike. After everything you did to try to keep us together, I didn’t notice”  
“I can’t blame you, and I can’t blame him for finding a better friend... he was my best friend and I... we were all in this together... I thought of... I thought he’d always be my friend... I hoped he’d always be my friend... but he’s so much happier with you. You’re crazy smart and can talk about smart people things... I feel so invisible when you’re together... I was mad at you, but I hated myself for it because I was the jealous one. You didn’t do anything wrong... and I did everything wrong. I tried so hard... but... but I couldn’t get anything right. I should have left... I was too much of a coward. I wanted... you all to want me. I miss us... how we used to be”

Pike was openly sobbing now, his words fell between the sobs as he tried to breath through his nose. His lovers body jerking with each sob  
“We want you. We’ve always wanted you, Pike”  
Pike shook his head at Pidge’s low words. His right hand leaving Keith’s as he gripped the strap of Keith’s armour to hold him closer. Kissing Pike’s hair, he hushed him gently  
“You’re okay, babe. You’re okay. You didn’t mean to upset them, and they didn’t mean to upset you. I’ve got you”  
Pike drew three heavily gulping breaths  
“I... can’t... can’t do this...”  
“Okay. It’s okay. You did well... they’re not mad with you. Everything is out in the open now... it’s going to get better now”  
Pike shook his head, Keith moving to rub his arm as Pike tried to climb further into his lap, despite the fact he couldn’t. Curling around his lover the best he could, he started rocking his lover as he pressed kisses to his hair  
“Meklavar and Vala are going to leave now. They’re not mad with you. No one‘s mad with you. Sorry guys, I think he need some space to calm down”  
Allura nodded immediately. Leaning in, she squeezed Lance’s leg  
“Pike, I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t understand. I want to be friends with you. You’re a good man, and we need you in our party. I’ll see you a little later, okay?”  
All she got from Pike was a loud sniffle, moving back, Allura wiped at her eyes  
“Look after him”  
“I intend to”  
Pidge sat rooted on the bed for a long moment after Allura climbed off. Clenching and unclenching her fists, her expression was filled with guilt. Keith kind of hoped she’d leave without saying anything, but as Allura had, she had one last thing to say  
“Pike... I’m sorry... I should have noticed the changes you were going through. I should have thought things through and realised you weren’t okay. You helped make me feel better, and stay focused on finding my dad and my brother. You do help. You carried me to bed, made me eat, reminded me that showering was a thing. You’re a really good big brother. You’re not dumb. And I shouldn’t have been making fun of your feelings for Vala. I didn’t know if you were joking or not, or how badly it’d hurt you... because I thought it was a joke with how much you flirt... I’m going to go now, but... I want to be your friend. I don’t want you to feel on the outside anymore. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you couldn’t hang with Block, or useless... sometimes you did get in the way, or interrupt at the wrong time, but I shouldn’t have taken my stress out by snapping at you. I hope you can forgive me”  
Lance gave a barely noticeable nod, acknowledging what Pidge had said. A nod was better than nothing. It showed he’d listened to her and knew she meant what she was saying.

Climbing off the bed to join Allura, Allura guided Pidge out from under the drapes, both of them casting Pike a sad glance before Allura was leading Pidge off to the door. In his arms, Pike cried harder. His breathing rough and uneven. His body pressed firmly against Keith’s as he continued to rock him. He didn’t think Pike had done the wrong thing at all in telling the truth of how he felt, even if hurt them all so much to hear it. Things couldn’t get better without the truth. Both of them had had such a long day, both of them were so emotionally raw. Keith had cried himself out, yet as he rocked his lover, he found himself crying again silently. None of this was fair. Having to confess to your friends that they’d hurt your feelings quiznakking sucked... even more so when those friends were basically the only family you had while fighting an intergalactic war with no way to contact home and no way for home to contact them. 

Wiping at his face, Pike calmed himself back down enough to mumble as he hiccuped for breath  
“I feel horrible”  
“Yeah. But at least it’s out in the open now, and the girls have missed you as much as you’ve missed them. You just haven’t been able to reconnect, I’m sure that’s going to change now”  
“I feel like I was cruel to them”  
“I’m sure they didn’t think you were being cruel. I’m sure they both have a lot to think about, and I’m sure that they both want to fix all of this as much as you do”  
“I still feel... that was horrible... thank you for being here. I’m sorry you had to go through that... here I am, saying all these things when you’re friends and I don’t want you to be mad at them...”  
“Babe, they hurt you. Of course I’m mad over that, but now you’ve talked, things will get better”  
The truth was a painful thing sometimes. But sometimes things just needed to be said. Pike needed to confess how he felt, or they’d all still be at ends with each other  
“Thank you... I’m still really sorry”  
“You’re okay... you’re okay... I’ve got you”  
“I know we had a nap, but can we just cuddle? I wanna curl up around you”  
“I don’t mind holding you”  
“Right now I wanna curl up around you... can I?”  
“Sure, whatever you want”

Keith wound up spooned in Pike’s hold. Pike’s hand in his as the fellinwere nuzzled into his back. Keith still was certain it really should be the other way around, seeing Pike had held him as he’d cried, but his lover wanted things this way. Falling so quiet that Keith had thought he’d fallen asleep, his boyfriend broke the silence, nearly making him jump  
“I think I want you to talk to Gyro”  
“Hmm?”  
“I feel like he has to be confused over everything... and I think you need to tell him about things... I think you both need to talk”  
With Gyro now Shiro, that was definitely the case, but he didn’t want Pike getting the wrong idea  
“Gyro is my brother... I’m dating you, not him”  
Pike huffed at him  
“I didn’t mean... I just... I think you both need to talk and I’ve been taking up so much of your time”  
Keith wouldn’t have it any other way. Having Pike by his side felt so much better than being alone  
“I’ll talk to him tonight. I’ve talked so much today, I don’t know what to say”  
He didn’t know what to tell Pike, or Shiro, not after Allura and Pidge filling him in, as they were probably still doing that right now  
“Okay... If I fall asleep... you should go see him...”  
“That was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”  
“Maybe...”  
“And what if I want to take another nap?”  
“Then I’ll have to worry about my influence on you”  
Keith raised their hands to his lips, kissing the back of his boyfriend’s  
“You’re influence is fine. Fine, I get the hint. I’ll talk to Gyro while you nap”  
“Thank you...”

*  
Pike fell asleep within minutes of Keith agreeing to seeing Gyro. The Barbarian equal parts excited and nervous over talking to Shiro within the confines of the game. Shiro didn’t have a whole lot of energy to spare, and what he did have shouldn’t be going into this game. Making sure Pike was tucked up comfortably, Keith grabbed the blue headband, as well as the needle and thread, before heading out of their room and down the walkway to Pidge and Allura’s room. Allura answered, her eyes still red from her tears  
“Keith? What are... is Pike alright?”  
“He’s taking a nap. He kicked me out to talk with Gyro. How are you and Pidge?”  
Allura wiped at her eyes with both hands, sniffled, then pushed a wobbly smile to her lips  
“Not great... but we will be. I feel terrible for ignoring him...”  
“He feels terrible about what he said...”  
“He has every right to tell us how he felt. I’m just so shocked and so sorry that I didn’t realise. I was so swept in everything Lotor was doing for us and with us...”  
“Allura, you fell in love with him. I don’t exactly have the right to say anything about how stupid love seems to make you”  
“I never... he flirts with everyone, I assumed he’d...”  
Allura wasn’t blind, nor was she stupid, but Lance had been stupidly in love with her, while she was stupidly head over heals for Lotor. Of course his heart was going to be broken when she chose Lotor over him, and of course her heart was going to be broken when it all fell apart with Lotor  
“You’re right, he does. There’s no point telling you not to beat yourself up over it, but like I told him, it’s out in the open now. You can start healing that rift... Now, is Shiro in there?”  
“Yes. Shall we find Block so the two of you can have some space?”  
“I don’t want to kick you out your room”  
“Nonsense. Pidge and I will be perfectly fine. You talk with Shiro. I’m quite sure you have a lot to talk about”  
“Thanks, Allura. Pike’s still a bit raw, but he really does want to work things out with you and Pidge. He feels awful about what he said. I think next time you see him, it’s best to act as if nothing happened. You both know where you stand, and if you’re acting awkward around each other, it’s only going to make you both feel worse”  
“Shiro said much the same thing. Anyway, this can wait for another time. Go spend time with him, he’s been very worried over you”

Shiro was sitting at the table, the set up of Pidge and Allura’s room only differed where they had two beds instead of one. Standing as he walked in, his brother raised his arm, Keith instantly letting himself rush to him, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him tight  
“Hey there, kiddo”  
“Quiznak, Shiro. I missed you...”  
“I’ve missed you, too. How are you? How’s Pike? Allura mentioned you were hurt...”  
Snorting at his brother’s bombardment of questions, Keith broke the hug before taking a seat in the chair closest to Shiro  
“I’ve been better. But it’s not too bad. My wounds are gone thanks to magic, and it’s you we should be worrying about. How did you end up here? I thought you had to touch Lance or the game to end up sucked in”

Shiro sat heavily, his hand going to the stump of where his arm had been. Pidge and Allura would have filled him in on how he’d been cursed and the only way to free him had been to cut his arm off. It was hard enough for Shiro in reality to have lost his arm again, now he was forced into the game with the same disadvantage  
“I was checking on you. It must have happened when I placed my hand on your forehead to check your fever”  
“I have a fever?”  
“You’re rutting. You’ve been sleeping for nearly two movements now”  
Two movements? Keith felt the colour drain from his face... and he was rutting... that wasn’t going to be fun waking up  
“And Lance?!”  
“Holding on. Hunk’s been busy. He and Krolia have been off on a few supply runs seeing he’s the only one available to fly his lion. The other lions are still there. The time’s given their cores a chance to charge...”  
“That’s not what I asked”  
Shiro let out a long breath through his nose  
“I know. Keith, the thing is... Omegas aren’t supposed to last this long in a red heat. This is his third movement. There’s a high chance of permanent damage. I know you said you and he had a physical relationship, do you intend on courting him?”  
Keith nodded. Even if Lance was suffering some kind of permanent damage from his red heat, he was hopelessly in love with his best friend. He didn’t care what the outcome was, he wasn’t giving up on Lance  
“Yeah, I do”  
“Then you need to be prepared. Lance may never be able to have children. He may never function on the same level as he did before. There’s the risk of brain damage, decreased lung capability, muscle waste... he could require consistent care for the rest of his life”

As if he hadn’t thought of this. Shiro had told him this. He knew Lance’s drop wouldn’t be magically cured by them waking up. Keith found himself irritated that his brother was bringing it up again  
“You’ve told me this before... Shiro, I love him. I didn’t think it could be more than like, I thought it was stupid when people suddenly declared love, yet, he’s my omega. He’s supposed to be with me. I know it. My alpha worked it out before my head or my heart”  
“Do you know what a relationship between an alpha and omega means?”  
No. He had no idea. He didn’t know how to go from estranged friends to lovers. He was scared, nervous, and a hundred other words that didn’t quite describe the feelings bubbling in his stomach, but he was ready to take that step. Ready from his stomach to lurch as he fell, knowing Lance would catch him as he did  
“Shiro, are you telling me I shouldn’t court Lance?”  
Shiro shook his head  
“I’m not saying that. I’m saying you need to think about the fact that maybe he doesn’t want a partner, or to be courted. He’s going to be weak and disorientated. He’ll be coming out of a red heat, into a fresh heat. He’ll need a partner for his heat, and the pheromones released from knotting to help keep him calm. You need to keep your head. You need to hold back from bonding with him. You’re going to be feeling so many things all at once, on top of being physically intimate with someone. Lance is going to rely on you entirely not to go too far with him, and with his body. He’s gone from being a beta-omega, to having his first heat and drop too fast for him to process. He might go feral at the scent of the pack... you might even have to force yourself on him to calm him with a knot”

Keith threw up in his mouth at the mention of forcing himself upon Lance. He wasn’t doing that. He respected Lance too much to force that... Mortified he stared at his brother  
“I don’t like it either. If Lance’s omega had chosen you as his alpha, he’ll need the pheromones you release in knotting him as well as the feel. He needs every bit of that physical comfort that having a partner provides. But he could also react badly, or drop to feral so easily if he misreads your hesitation. You’re going to be in a tough situation”

Keith frowned, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair as he did. The chances of him messing everything up once they woke were sky high. He didn’t know what he was doing, and it was a whole other game when they came back to reality. Lance might forget all of this completely, they all might forget all of this completely, or they’d remember, and he and Lance would be left to flounder their way through their new relationship as they found their footing again. He wasn’t running away from the truth of the matter, no matter how much it hurt. Letting out a slow breath, he shook his head to clear his anger before replying  
“I already know that. That it’s not going to be easy, but none of this has been. This world is all kinds of messed up. Everything we say we have to be careful with the wording. Pike’s poured his heart out to Allura and Pidge, thinking he’s talking to Meklavar and Vala, while he thinks that I’m Darkstorm. He didn’t want us to know he was beta-omega who’d shifted into omega-omega after Allura brought him back, but Shiro, I’m not giving up on him. I know Pike is only one part of Lance. I know that. And I’ve been open with that part than I ever thought I would be with anyone outside of you. There’s so many things I want, need, to tell him and so many things I want him to tell me. We don’t know how he’s going to be when he wakes, I’m not going to kid myself into believing everything will be alright, but Lance wouldn’t give up on me. And I’m not going to give up on him. I don’t know how I’m going to respond to him being in heat while I’m in a rut, and if I fuck things up, I’m prepared to live with that. What I can’t live with is a world without him. We all hurt him so badly, yet I’ve figured out now why you’re here. You’re here because he wants you here. He’s accepting that Kuron wasn’t you, but I think the main reason you’re here now is that he wanted me to talk to you. He wanted us to fix our relationship. That’s why you’re here. And now you’re here, you can work on fixing things between you and him. He’s scared and he’s not sure of anything, other than the fact he wants to fix things between all of us”

Shiro closed his eyes, moving to pinch the bridge of his nose as he thought over Keith’s words. His brother might not have wanted to hear what he had to say, still, Keith was now convinced that that was the reason for Shiro entering the game. Lance wanted to “get better”, to find the way back to the days when their pack was the tightest. Kuron had left him shaken, scared and self doubting... more than he’d ever been before. Lance had made enough progress to start separating Kuron from Shiro. He trusted Dark enough to let him do what he felt he needed to. He wasn’t thinking that Dark had skulked off to sleep with Gyro. Secure in their budding relationship to know that Dark wasn’t about to drop kick him. He’d started opening his heart again, started acknowledging his skills as his rogue abilities came back. Beating that gargoyle had relied on Lance being a bad arse, and he had been.

“I don’t want to see either of you hurt”  
Keith knew Shiro loved him like a brother, the same for the pack. He loved them all  
“I know, and I love you for it. But I have to see this through. It’s not out of guilt, at least not entirely. Talking with Pike helped me see that I had feeling for Lance even before I left for the Blades. I don’t know if my alpha knew he was beta-omega, I just know that I owe it an apology for the times I called it a dumb beast when I’ve been the dumb one. I feel it Shiro, all the way down to my toes. Lance is my mate. My true mate, if you believe in that. I know I’m supposed to be with him for the rest of our lives, however short that might be. If these are my last days with him, then no matter how much it hurts inside, I’m not going to show him that. I want him to be happy, and I’m going to do everything I can to ensure that”  
Shiro nodded, sighing, then lowering his hand  
“You went and grew up without me. It’s not going to be easy, but you have my support. You’d better fill me in on everything... Maybe not everything, but everything else”  
There’d been enough talking. Keith felt talked out. If this wasn’t for Lance, he wouldn’t be making the effort  
“We’re going to be here a while”  
“My brother and his mate need me. Tell me everything”

Keith’s heart gave a flutter at the thought of Lance being his mate. He wanted that so bad he could almost taste it. Thinking it through, he came to the conclusion that starting from the start was the only way to start. Shiro having no idea they’d be sitting there for the next three hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! We got there! Having to repeat things gets so tedious... and keeping things straight.
> 
> But!
> 
> Look at our boy! Pike wasn’t trying to be cruel. He didn’t want misunderstandings, nor did he want to hurt Pidge and Allura like they’d hurt him. He’s so hard on himself he can’t see his own awesomeness. 
> 
> Also, did ya’ll think Hunk would be next? Well, surprise!
> 
> Also, I realised something today I say “but” as many times in real life as I do in here 😂
> 
> Another also is I’m trying to keep their terms and words similar for the pack. When you’ve spent that long together it happens. You find yourselves finishing each other’s sentences, talking over each other as you say the same thing, or mix in the same “awesome” word. 
> 
> I feel like we need adventure times ahead and gosh darn are they going on that adventure now


	18. ADDED (+Onwards)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throwing the damn prompt list out the window. I’ve already ripped you off soooo much stuff I wanted to add, and one day I’d really love to rewrite this with Lance as an actual fellinwere... any whoooo, adventure times are beginning. Team times ahead...

For some reason unknown to Keith, his and Pike’s room had been delegated the party’s meeting room. They hadn’t been unable to escape dinner with the non-Olkarions. Pike nervous around Pidge and Allura, very slowly growing less tense as they “acted naturally” around him. Pike appreciated that. Keith also appreciated that they weren’t letting what was said get in the way of getting on with things. During dinner they’d been presented with their marching orders to leave the following morning, and a magical map from Ryndery. As tired as they were, they were now gathered around the map which was spread across his and Pike’s bed. Pike was leaning into keith as Keith played with his hair. Retrieving Gyro and Pike had sent them well away from the Bridge of Blood, meaning the mines were also unnecessary unless they wished to double back. Highlighted on the map was the castle, a white dot at the end of a long mountain range that they couldn’t avoid. Now it all came down to settling the route.

“I think we should go through the tombs, through the sister village, across this rocky outcrop then make our way up the mountains from the other side of this wood, here”  
Pidge dragged her finger along the map, the way she wanted to go glowed in green  
“I disagree. If we go through the tombs, we don’t know what else could be in there. I think we should head to the edge of the forest here, then head to this next village, take this road, through the Quite Plains, then approach the mounts through this pass here”  
Allura dragged her finger over the map. Both routes seemed to be the same length. If they passed through the tombs, they had the advantage of not having to spend gold in the sister village of the one they were in, as Ryndery would provide them with a letter of permission to be presented if they were stopped by more of her kind. Then again, they’d been out of contact due to the gargoyle, so the village most probably no longer existed. Going underground meant darkness, those stupid long tunnels, Pidge wanted to ransack things for gold, and Pike’s fear of the dark. The second route meant having to spend gold at the next village to stock up further with supplies. Allura would be happy to see the pink shades of the Quite Plains, as she’d wanted to do. Pike wouldn’t have to be in the dark. The issue was they’d have to cross the mountain pass, then double back to trek up the mountain from another side. They’d have to double back slightly from the village towards the rocky outcrop, in order to reach the road to the next village. Shiro tapped the map  
“We could cut through the forest here, then follow the mountains long until we reach the pass?”  
Block’s eyes widened, shaking his head at the idea  
“But what about bandits?”  
“What do you mean bandits?”  
Shiro’s route would be most direct and though the map was magical it didn’t show what kind of terrain would be along the foothills of the mountains  
“If there’s caves, there could be bandits hiding out!”  
Pidge sighed at Block  
“There could be bandits no matter which way we take. Pike, which way do you think we should go?”

Mumbling, Pike brought a hand up to rub at his left eye. Patting his head had left the fellinwere nearly asleep   
“I’m fine with whatever you guys choose”  
Pidge rolled her eyes at Pike  
“That’s not what we’re asking. Do you want to go back through the tombs”  
Pike wrinkled his nose, with a slight shake of his head  
“Not really”  
Allura brimmed with pride, beaming at Pike who settled back against Keith for support  
“Which means we take my route. Great. Now we know where we’re going, this map is going to make things all that much more easier. We’ll start early tomorrow morning, if we head out at first light we can make a fair bit of ground before resting at noon”  
“But the tombs could have treasure... think of the gold”  
“Pike doesn’t want to go through the tombs. Think of it, he and Keith barely escaped after slaying the gargoyle. What’s to say there aren’t more mythical beasts in the tunnels?”  
Pidge pouted, crossing her arms before sighing  
“That’s true. If we can avoid combat we should. We won’t have access to the magical springs if something were to happen”  
“Then there’s what Ryndery mentioned...”  
Allura clamped a hand over her mouth, Pike’s ears flicking as he stared at her  
“What did she say?”  
“Oh, it’s nothing really. Forget I said anything”  
Pike wasn’t having it as he looked to Keith, Keith didn’t want to tell his boyfriend he could potentially die once they reached the castle... but he also didn’t want to lie, settling for the half truth would have to be enough  
“She mentioned that as we grow closer to the castle you could grow weaker because of the pearl”  
Moving his hand to his stomach, Pike let out a breath from his nose  
“It’s growing, isn’t it? That’s why I’m getting fat?”  
Shiro looked to Pidge, who looked to Allura, who looked to Keith. His party quiznakking sucked  
“Yeah, babe. Because of the spell. It’s absorbing your energy”  
“So when I said I felt it...”  
“That’s because you it did. Magic has an affect on it”  
“Great... something else to be wrong about”  
“You’re not wrong. We’re all going to the castle and we’ll get the pearl out of you. That’s always been the quest, it might just take a little longer”  
“You can say I’m going to be a burden”  
Allura cleared her throat  
“None of us are saying that. It’s late, and we’re all tired. Why don’t we all go to sleep now, so we’re bright and fresh in the morning?”  
Directing Keith a pointed look, Keith closed his eyes to avoid Allura’s gaze. No one was buying the sudden change in topic, least of all Pike. Not that Pike said anything to object breaking up the party meeting.

Silently agreeing, the party left them. Taking hold of Pike, Keith flopped back, angling them so Pike was laying along his left side. Nuzzling his boyfriend, Keith mentally sighed to himself. Some truth was better than no truth, yet some truth was enough to make his lover anxious  
“You know I won’t let anything happen to you, don’t you?”  
“I know. I thought that maybe I’d be able to finally hold my own...”  
“Hey, you’ve already held your own... this is simply a bump in the road”  
Pike snorted  
“Was that a pregnancy joke? Because I look like I’m pregnant?”  
“No, babe. I’m not joking. And I don’t mind that you’ve got a belly”  
“I do. Do you know how long it took to form muscles in the first place? I’m a guy, Dark. It’s kind of weird”  
“Not that weird. You’re still perfect, to me”  
“I don’t feel perfect... we spent most of today napping, now it’s time for bed, my head won’t shut up”

Rubbing Pike’s back, Keith knew the feeling too well. Letting his hand slide to his boyfriends tail, he scratched at the base much like he’d do to Kosmo. Pike was very much like Kosmo in the respect they both seemed to love pats. Letting out a hitched kind of squeak, Keith tilted his head as his hand stopped  
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable”  
“It’s... our tails are very sensitive. Especially at the base...”  
“I didn’t know that”  
“We don’t really touch there so when someone does, it’s hard not to hyperfixate on the feeling”  
“Are you trying to say it’s one of your sweet spots, like with your nape? Not somewhere some who isn’t a lover would touch”  
“I... uh... yeah...”  
Keith smirked to himself. He wondered if it was Pike’s way of compensating for not having an omega side in game. He didn’t gush slick, or grow wet, but was still stimulated by contact close to his arse. Shifting slightly, Keith could definitely feel something poking into his leg as he wrapped his hand around Pike’s tail, jerking his hand loosely around as Pike’s tail started snaking around his arm  
“Daaaark...”  
“Mmm?”  
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”  
“Maybe? I believe you told me this tail of yours knows a few tricks?”  
“I thought we were going to sleep”  
“And you said you were too wound up to”  
“I didn’t... mean... would you stop that?”  
“Why? You’ve been so good today, been so brave, why don’t you let me make you feel good and forget the world for a while?”  
“Because it’s still going to be there tomorrow”  
“Pike, if you want to stop, I’ll stop. I’m not great at comforting people, but I do want to make you feel better. I just don’t know how”  
“Then kiss me. Grabbing and playing with my tail is as good as playing with my dick... I want... I want this to feel different when we’re in bed together, not just fucking like we used to”  
“Oh, babe... of course it’s different. I didn’t know, but you’re so damn cute I can’t keep my hands off you”  
Pike blushed adorably, his lips still pouty around the edges  
“I’m not cute. I’m manly”  
“Very manly... and very cute. Did you know today you took my breath away? When I came in, the way the sun hit your face. I couldn’t help but feel like the luckiest man around”  
“Smooth words will get you everywhere”  
“As long as I’m the only one”  
Pike nodded, leaning up as Keith leaned down to kiss his lover. Sliding into his lap, his boyfriend deepened the kiss, as Keith started playing with his tail again. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to touch every bit of Pike. He wanted to find all the spots that turned him on. He wanted to mark them all as his, so no one would ever think that Pike was anything but his  
“You... and only you... you’re the only one I’ve slept with”

Keith knew he was only one Pike had been intimate with, yet the information hit him all over again. It excited the parts of his brain his alpha would normally prowl. Pike having not done this with anyone else, meant Lance hadn’t either. Not as a beta, and not as an omega. He’d be the first to touch Lance, to make him tremble as he lapped up his lover’s slick. He’d be the first and only person to ever knot Lance. He’d be the first for so many things, and he wanted every single thing that came with it. The pearl was a teasing sneak peak at his lover’s belly. Lance would fall pregnant to him when the time was right, they’d have a pack of their own together, and fuck if he didn’t want that. Diving into the next kiss with renewed vigour, his hands went to stripping Pike, who ground down against him so sweetly Keith nearly came in his armour. He used to listen to all those idiots at the Garrison who’d brag about their sexual conquests and perpetually horny way thinking he’d never be like that, yet give him Pike and he was just as stupid as everyone he’d silently judged. Sure, he’d had ruts and masturbated when he’d needed to take the edge off, but Pike had him nearly coming in his pants like a freshly presenting alpha during their first rut. He couldn’t get enough of his boyfriend, or his boyfriend’s glorious arse. He wasn’t as scared as he had been, if anything each time Pike came it fed his ego. His alpha was seriously either going to laugh it’s head off at him, or congratulate him for nothing thinking with his head brain... and now he knew about Pike’s tail, he was definitely going to have trouble the next time he took him from behind.

Ridding themselves of their bothersome clothes, Keith did just that. Pike holding onto the headboard as Keith drilled him into him the mattress with enough vigour the Barbarian lacked the energy to pull out as they both collapsed into a sweaty heap. The only thing he really had the effort for was pulling the furs up to cover them simply so his lover wouldn’t be cold as Keith spooned around him smaller form. He loved spooning too, something that he’d always denied himself when sharing blankets with his packs... or maybe he only loved it because of the way Pike would purr so contently against him, kissing shared over his shoulder, not quite making it on his lips as they snuggled close. It was enough to make him wish they could stay in this damn game forever like this.

*  
Struggling to keep their hands to themselves, they were two lovers drunk on the newness of their relationship. Waking sometime before dawn, he’d taken Pike as he laid in his arms, before they’d fallen back to sleep. Trying to squeeze in one last intimate moment, he’d had Pike’s long legs spread as he lay half on the bed jerking himself off as Keith thirsty chased his high. His head thrown back, lost in the pleasure of his lover when his brother walked in on them... somewhat shamefully coming as he heard the door close behind Shiro. Pike didn’t take it well, his lover had kept his mouth closed and head down as they’d cleaned up. Unshed tears welled in Pike’s eyes, no amount of reassurance or soft kisses as he nuzzled into his face brought his boyfriend out of his flunk. He wouldn’t have known Shiro was the culprit if his brother hadn’t flushed red when they finally joined the party in the dewy morning’s creeping light.

Oblivious to Shiro’s awkwardness, Allura yawned softly before covering the action with her hand   
“E-excuse me. That bed may be small, but it’s the comfiest bed I’ve slept in for so long. I almost regret insisting we leave at morning light”  
None of them were overly enthused over shivering in the cold morning. The coolness had started to dry the sweat lingering on his skin, Keith ready for a nap after being so “active”. He was also wishing he’d stolen some of the furs from their bed for Pike to wear over his shoulders, his boyfriend occasionally shuddering from the cold. Attempting to wrap his arm around Pike’s waist, Pike discretely stepped away, disguising the action as rubbing his arms in the cold. Keith had landed himself in the doghouse completely accidentally, and thanks to his brother. Shooting Shiro a glare, he knew his brother had to have some clue that he’d ruined their morning by failing to knock. Pike had been so lewd beneath him, with his legs spread and everything on display. His hand jerking himself as he toyed with his right nipple... Fuck... maybe it was a good thing it was so cold, he definitely needed to calm down... a nap, some post bliss cuddling and a happy Pike would have made for a far better morning.

Pike’s lack of affection was noticed as they made their way to ground level. Block, kind of useless Block who wasn’t endowed with Hunk’s wisdom, that Block, kept casting glances between Keith and Pike. Pidge was too tired to tease them, trudging along yawning and trying not to smack herself in the face with her axe each time she stumbled. Allura and Shiro had both cast glances back at the party, but from the look of it Shiro hadn’t told her he’d walked into Keith nailing Pike. Being ignored by his boyfriend was hard, as was not reaching out and taking his hand. He loved being the centre of Pike’s world. He loved that Pike felt he could trust and rely upon him alone when he was feeling down or anxious. From the way Pike’s ears were laying flat above his blue headband, Keith knew Pike was ashamed of being seen like that, shouldering more than enough embarrassment for the both of them. No one wants to be caught in the heat of the moment by their brother, but on the flip side, part of him was elated. Elated to a disturbing level, as if his alpha was there feeding his pride and ego over having someone witness him laying claim to his lover’s body. They’d only wanted one more intimate moment, one more moment to themselves before the moments dried up thanks to travelling with the group, and now they were leaving the safe haven with Pike thoroughly depressed. Keith hated it.

Ryndery was waiting for them with a dozen village guard, and five of the largest beasts Keith had seen in his life, not including the giant versions of Platt and Kosmo. Standing tall enough for their shoulders to reach Shiro’s head, the beasts bore a very vague resemblance to a moose, or whatever the female version of a moose was... Was it a doe? But does were deers? Whatever they were, they were unnervingly tall. Three of the beasts wore double saddles, with two hitched in reserve. Pike was drawn away from him as he stared at the beasts in awe. The foremost beast was nearly so grey it verged on black, three small nubs sat in a triangular formation between its two ears. Keith’s instincts told him to pull his curious boyfriend away, yet as Pike held his hand out, the lead beast nosed into it so gently he couldn’t interrupt the moment. He looked so happy, then again, as far as Keith knew Lance had grown up on a farm so dealing with animals was probably second nature to him. Moving cautiously towards his boyfriend, the beast huffed loudly as he approached, Pike hushing the giant animal as explained who Keith was, the beast seemed to like him as much as he liked it, yet for Pike’s sake, he shuffled forward, Pike taking him by the right wrist  
“Here, hold your hand out so she can sniff you”  
“I don’t think she likes me”  
“Because you’re nervous. Animals can tell these kinds of things”  
“You like animals, don’t you?”  
“Yeah, I mean, who doesn’t?”  
“Fair point... I still don’t think she likes me”  
“That’s because you’re acting so stiffly. Here, put your hand here...”

Pike placed Keith’s hand on the beast’s nose, the velvety softness beneath his fingers felt far softer than he’d imagined it would. Nuzzling into his palm, the beast seemed to be warming up to him as Pike smiled at him, quite pleased with himself  
“See. She likes you now you’re starting to loosen up. She already knows you’re a good man”  
“Pike... about this morning. I’m sorry we were caught... I wouldn’t have put you in that situation if I’d thought anyone was going to walk in”  
Pike’s smile faltered, the fellinwere trapping his bottom lip in his teeth as he worried it. Keith realising he’d have to elaborate thanks to Pike’s anxieties  
“You’re my boyfriend. I don’t want you to think I’m only around to have sex with you. I mean, I like having sex with you, but there’s more to it than sex... I love being with you. You’re a bit of a spazz and a klutz, but I love that. I love that you’re strong and brave, and that I can talk to you... You’re hot and your funny... and my boyfriend. I didn’t mean for you to be embarrassed”  
Pike cast his gaze to the ground as he released his lip before shaking his head  
“You don’t need to apologise... I... Gyro is your brother, but he’s also your ex-lover... and it felt like a bit of a smack to the face when I realised it was him. I... was selfish wanting you to myself... I know we’re trying to fix things in the party, and I was focusing on that, but when Gyro walked in... I smelt him as you came... and my brain...”  
And Pike’s anxieties told him that Keith had come because of his ex... that wasn’t even his ex... Fucking Darkstorm. Removing his hand from the beast, Keith took the half step forward to wrap his arms around Pike  
“When I’m with you, I’m with you. I didn’t know it was him until I saw him blushing. I promise you, you had my full attention”  
“Sorry... it’s bad enough to being caught mating like that... he must think I’m a slut”  
“Babe, all he could see were your feet, I had your legs spread with my hands on your ankl-...”  
Pike stomped on his foot before Keith finished what he was about to say  
“He saw too much. I’m not mad at you... I’m mad at me. I mean, I know we didn’t know we were going to be interrupted, but if I wasn’t so damn horny like a cat in heat...”  
Keith kind of loved how horny Pike could get... His lover was hot, plus it goaded his ego to be desired as much as he was, seeing he’d always thought himself less than average thanks to years of bullying  
“Hey, don’t apologise for wanting me as much as I want you”  
Pike nuzzled into his shoulder with a dejected sigh   
“Maybe... no more sex... until we deliver the pearl?”  
“How about no more sex unless were certain the others are sleeping?”  
Pike gave a snorted laugh  
“I’m dating a horny idiot, aren’t I?”  
“Maybe, but I’m only horny for you. Don’t forget that”  
“I don’t think I can. Not with my arse still throbbing”  
“Good. Don’t you go going forgetting me”  
“I don’t think I ever could, red-ready to go?”  
Keith felt like missed something with the weird way that Pike started to “ready”, then started again? Perhaps it had to be due to how long it’d been since Lance had called him “Red”? Kissing Pike’s temple quickly, he pulled back, rubbing his boyfriend’s upper arm  
“Yeah. Let me check with others real quick”

Being apart from the others meant he’d missed most of Ryndery’s words. Keith wasn’t one for goodbyes or speeches, but he’d wished he’d heard her instructions over riding the beasts. No, instead he came in at the end when Ryndery was wishing them blessings and Allura was thanking her for hospitality. He couldn’t help the fact that Lance was his top priority, yet he did feel a little rude as he mumbled his thanks with the rest of the party. Other than sending them to their near deaths, he hadn’t spoken much to her at all, and now they were leaving... it grated on him. The Barbarian wanted to know the right words to say, but what was it he was supposed to say to a figment of the game’s imagination? Thanks to Pike and his people skills, the fact Keith had said nothing weighed on him as he turned to walk back to Pike hoping that his rudeness wouldn’t be punished in game with some weird beast attack when he really didn’t need that right now. As he’d turned the three great beasts they’d be riding lowered themselves, Pike moving to swing himself up in the saddle like a seasoned professional. Dammit. All he could do was swallow his irritation, because his boyfriend looked far too cute and far too confident upon the beasts back. The pair of them obviously had some kind of understanding that Keith was now on the outside of. Yeah, he knew he was being petty, that’s what only served to sour his mood as he made his way over to climb up behind Pike on the beast   
“You know how to control this thing?”  
“Nope... but I do know it’s a magical beast. Can you feel it?”  
Everything around here was magical... He could only assume  
“No, babe. Do you?”  
“Yeah... I can feel it in my stomach. The pearl’s pulsing again”  
“Does it hurt?”  
“No, it’s more like gentle contractions. You know when you slowly open and close your fist, it feels like that... soft, but noticeable. Not uncomfortable... but kind of weird...”  
Ryndery did say the energy within the pearl would grow... Pike didn’t know it could cost him his life, the secret stinging like thorns around Keith’s heart  
“You’ll tell me if it grows uncomfortable or painful, won’t you?”  
“I will... whoa!”

As the beast stood, Pike was jolted back into Keith. Resting his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder, Pike let out a laugh when he didn’t fall from the saddle  
“It’s a good thing I have you here to catch me if I fall”  
“Idiot. Of course I’m going to be right here”  
“I know... I’m not an idiot”  
“You are when you’re doubting me”  
“I don’t doubt you... you and me, neck and neck... in the thick of things, together”  
Those thorns gripped Keith’s heart harder, “neck and neck”, “rivals for life”, so many times Lance had teased him with those words...  
“Why so blue, Red?”

That’d been another of Lance’s favourites. He’d sit on the floor of the training room, waiting until Keith had finished training. When Keith would throw himself down next to his pack member, Lance would pass him a water pouch, and as “why so blue?”. The beta thought himself clever, using his status as the Blue Paladin as the basis of the joke. At first it’d been annoying, then his annoyance had faded to eye rolling. The first time he’d smiled at Lance’s persistent idiocy, Lance had lit right up. He’d bumped his shoulder against his, laughing how Keith wasn’t the grumpy alpha everyone thought him. Keith had corrected him, at the time being an alpha-beta, he was more of a mess dynamic wise than he’d thought. Maybe it was those moments, the times Lance sought him out to soothe him, that his alpha had picked up that there was more to the beta than being a simple beta? He’d valued his time with Lance, then stuffed it all up trying to be both a Paladin and Blade member... only, he didn’t know why Lance was so upset with him... maybe it was because Lance believed every memory was important, or maybe he felt it was something the pack could see as a bonding moment. Then again, omegas were known for their flamboyant ways and love of entertainment... Lance might have been more beta than omega, but omega blood still ran in his veins. 

“I’m not blue. Not with you, just thinking about riding this thing”  
“She’s not a thing, she’s beautiful... plus, you climbed up better than Block did”  
Keith glanced over to Block who was pasty faced and seemed ready to topple right back off as the beast he and Meklavar would be riding stood. Pidge had a tight grip on the reins, scolding Block over how he “better not throw up on her”. Pike was right, even if he wasn’t keen on being atop the beast, he wasn’t about to fall or throw up  
“I thought Gyro would ride with Block?”  
“Probably to do with weight distribution. Vala and Meklavar are the lightest of the group. You’re heavier than me, but we’re both lighter than Gyro in his armour. We’ll be able to travel further without straining the animals as much as we would if they were paired together. After all, Block is pretty solid and almost all of that is muscle”  
Pike’s reasoning was sound, Keith raising his hand to quickly ruffle his boyfriend’s hair before looping his arm securely around his waist again  
“Dark, what was that for?”  
“Because you figured that out faster than I did”  
“It’s nothing... are you ready to riding?”  
Nope   
“If you are...”  
Pike gave a flick of the reins and the beast started walking. The sensation was weird, especially given how smoothly it transitioned into a walk. He expected to be jolted, and to feel each step of the beast, not feeling like he was riding his hover bike back on Earth. He’d come to hate magic, but for a ride on a magic beast, this wasn’t bad.

*  
As the village fell away behind them, soon swallowed by the trees, Pike flicked the reins again and next thing Keith knew he felt like he was actually flying. The trees blurred as they past, the beasts hooves nimble as it negotiated its way through the woodland growth without hesitance. Peaking over Pike’s shoulder, he caught a glimpse of Pike’s smiling face, the fellinwere seemed in awe of how easy it was to keep in the saddle despite the gallop their beast had settled into. The moment was small, private, and sent his stupid heart racing with feelings for Pike. Here was a man who could have been broken from all he’d been through. He could have been crying with how unfair the world was, that they were plunging head first into the unknown, and yet he was having the time of his life. Heat began to pool below his fur belt, his dick twitching as he swallowed hard. They weren’t doing anything remotely sexual, but seeing Pike’s happiness made him want to take his lover up against the nearest tree. His hormones were out of control, yet there was nothing quite like taking his hover bike for a spin when he felt himself filled with extra energy and no way to channel it. He couldn’t forget that feeling of freedom. The throbbing between his thighs as his adrenaline grew. The feeling of falling, only to pull up at the last second. The way the real world melted and the way he jonesed for the next drop. He rode like a man who didn’t care if he lived or died, some days when Shiro had been missing, he hadn’t cared either way... If he hadn’t lived, he’d never have found his mother, or his brother, or the omega he wanted to court into mateship. He wouldn’t have his pack, yet he also wouldn’t be trapped here, scared of losing Lance forever if something went wrong. That thought started to pool, chasing away the growing arousal as it did. When the time came would Lance die? Would him dying free him from this game, or would Keith find himself robbed of his lover and would be lover in both realities? Hiding his face against Pike’s shoulder, the ride no longer held it’s appeal. They were riding into what could be Pike’s death and there he was popping inappropriate boners for no good reason.

Letting the beasts set the pace, the gradually slowed back to walk, allowing the rest of the team to catch up. Allura decided she was hungry, meaning they came to a stop for lunch at the next clearing in the forest. As Pike tended to the beasts, the rest of the party sat on watching. The fellinwere preferring to eat with the animals, than join the group  
“He seems happy”  
Allura didn’t need to nod her head towards Pike for the group to know she meant Pike. Pidge tore off the piece of thin bread she’d been toying with  
“I don’t think I’ve seen him smile that way in phoebs”  
“You know what they say about animal brains...”  
Gyro elbowed Block at his comment, Block frowning at the rest of them. Allura playing diplomat  
“Block, that wasn’t very funny. Pike is important part of our party”  
Block’s face reddened, hanging his head yet not apologising   
“Block, Vala is right. You and I have been too hard on Pike for far too long. You two were once best friends”  
Block raised his head, then turned towards Pike  
“I barely remember those times anymore”  
“Look, we’ve all had a bit of a talk and we all feel we’ve been much too hard on Pike. From now on, we’re all going to make a conscientious effort to be kinder”  
Block mumbled, Keith growing annoyed  
“I don’t know what to say to him anymore”  
“And you won’t if you don’t make the effort. He’s not stupid, you know”  
“Dark!”  
Keith shot Gyro a glare  
“Well, he’s not. He thinks he is because Block would rather talk all kinds of things with Meklavar than with him, no offence Meklavar”  
“I get it. But you’re right, Block, you should talk to him more too”  
“And say what?”’  
“That you miss your friend”  
Block huffed, crossing his arms  
“I don’t know I do. I can’t talk to him like I talk to you guys. You’ve all been acting strange for days now. Gyro doesn’t talk about his Lord of Light. Meklavar didn’t try to rob the people we were staying with. Vala’s always off with Meklavar, and it started happening when Dark dumped Gyro for Pike... which none of us saw coming, given Gyro is a much better fit”   
Block was very lucky that he wasn’t actually Hunk saying these things. None of the party backed him up, all of them silently acknowledging how hard it was going to be to make Pike make up with Block. Frowning at his piece of bread, he supposed it’d be like with the others, where something near on catastrophic brought Pike and them back together. Feeling eyes on his face, Keith looked to Pidge who looked to her bread  
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking?”  
Pidge ducked her head  
“It’s not like I want to... but you know... it might work”  
“We’re not doing that”  
“Then what are we supposed to do”

“You can’t push him off a mountain. Nor into a trap”

Sprung by Allura, Keith’s cheeks dusted red as he and Pidge quickly looked away from each other  
“We know. It’s just... argh! It’s making my head hurt trying to work this out. If Hunk was here, we could get them to talk, but he’s not and the other one’s pretty useless without anyone controlling him”  
“That’s the point though, isn’t it? We weren’t supposed to end up falling into the game with Lance. We were all supposed to not notice him being gone. We don’t know how long he’d been in a drop, or how long he’d been connected with that game. He hadn’t spoken on the comms since... I can’t remember when. If Black hadn’t towed Red in, Lance could have been dead by now”  
Allura sighed, dropping forward to sit with her face between her hands and her elbows digging into her knees  
“What does the game even need energy for?”  
“We don’t know. It probably actually doesn’t, but Lance’s quintessence corrupted it’s magic. Remember when the castle tried to kill us? It’s probably like that”  
Keith nearly got killed by a bot while Lance nearly went out an airlock. He really didn’t want to remember that.

The party sat in mutual depression, Pidge tearing off some more bread and this time throwing it near her feet  
“You know what I miss? I miss his dumb jokes”  
Allura nodded, adding  
“I miss his flirting... he was right, he did make me feel better...”  
Gyro shook his head with a smile on his lips   
“You can’t say that anymore, Allura. Keith’s set one courting Lance once we’re all awake again”  
Pidge’s eyes widened  
“You’re really going to court him? Like... properly?”  
Keith nodded, a sad smile on his lips   
“What can I say? I miss him. I miss his jokes. I miss him bragging about his sharpshooter skills. I miss training with him, and hanging out. I miss him, all of him. I want to court him properly, but Shiro reminded me he’s in heat, and I’m in a rut”  
Pidge wrinkled her nose  
“I don’t want to think about that... but... he seems to have already chosen you. He let you in long before any of us. And, let’s face it, you’re both as stupid as each other. You’re probably going to bond, then have to do everything backwards from there”  
Yeah, probably. He’d already proven he couldn’t be trusted not to try and bond with Lance, despite Lance being Pike and Keith not having his alpha  
“I’m not going to bond with him if he doesn’t want it. Even if he turns my courting down, I want him back. I never should have said I wouldn’t spend eternity with him... it’s... out of everyone, he’s the one who deserves to go home the most. He kept the pack together... you know? He never felt worthy of being a Paladin... but that didn’t mean he didn’t stop trying. I don’t know if I can cope with not getting him back”

They all fell silent again, Pidge again shouldering the burden of pulling them out of their funk  
“I bet he’d make a really stupid joke if he was here. Like “Wanna see my magic mount?””  
Keith shook his head  
“Nah, he’d be more like “Hey, baby, you ever trip over a tree branch? No? How ‘bout a root?”  
Pidge stared at him for a good moment before doubling over, howling with laughter as she did  
“Oh my god! You taught you that one?! That’s... Hunk isn’t going to believe this!”  
Keith’s face flamed  
“I heard it from James, first. He was trying to pick up one the girls in our class!”  
“And you remembered it! Dude, you couldn’t even remember us!”  
The Barbarian regretted opening his mouth now, grumbling defensively  
“It sounded so stupid that it wouldn’t get out of my head”  
“You still remembered it... oh my god, that’s so bad”  
Raking his fingers through his hair, Shiro set his expression into something that already had Pidge laughing even harder before he came out with  
“At least he didn’t say “Wanna come back to my tent and talk about the first thing that pops up””

Keith gaped at his brother before groaning loudly and hiding his face in his hands. Shiro was his brother, the packs’ damn Space Dad...  
“I feel he’d really be more along the lines of “Are you sure you’re not a map, I’d be lost without you””  
Now Allura was joining in... They’d been joking around, he knew they were, yet suddenly it felt as if they were making fun of Lance. Keith’s good mood vanished, ashamed he’d joined in. Lance wouldn’t have it funny if he’d been there, Keith knew it’d take time to correct his and the teams behaviour, now he was saying how fast reminiscing turned to teasing  
“We’re doing it again... He’d be upset if he heard us...”  
Pidge’s laughter promptly died, Allura asking   
“But we were joking, weren’t we?”  
“I realised we were joking at his expense, and not simply because we miss him... this isn’t going to be easy to correct...”  
Pidge threw the last of her bread away, curling into herself as much as her armour allowed  
“Hunk and I did this a lot... Keith’s right... we heard him say it... I didn’t realise how easy it is to get caught up in it...”  
Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose  
“I shouldn’t have encouraged it. I didn’t think of it that way either”  
“He’s really sensitive right now, isn’t he?”  
Nodding at Allura’s words, Keith pushed himself up, brushing his hands off on his leather pants as he did  
“Yeah. I’m going to check on him... we should leave soon, anyway. We won’t make the village by nightfall at this rate”  
Allura opened her mouth, then shut it. They’d easily make the village with the speed of their beasts. She nearly put her foot in it by bringing logic into their adventure.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before starting work I’m like I need something to do other than writing gay porn.
> 
> Now I have a job and have been working for 10 months... all I wanna do is write porn, I don’t wanna work...
> 
> Technically I have 4 jobs 😅  
> 1 main job, 2 paying volunteer, and another volunteer which makes me do stuff like write reports and send formal emails... sighs dramatically.
> 
> Anyway, I would really love to hear your comments, suggestions, ideas... I get lonely 😞

When the magic of the beasts faded, the party was left walking to town. Being nominated the strongest, Keith carried the three bags of provisions, as Allura used the map the guide them. Not that they needed guiding, they’d hit the road, following in a vaguely north-east direction. Walking along beside him, Pike was humming to himself watching Keith out the corner of his eye as he did. With the pair of them at the back of the group they’d been allowed some measure of privacy  
“What do you keep looking at me for?”  
Pike’s ears flicked  
“I can’t look at my boyfriend?”  
“I’m not saying that. I’m wondering why you’re looking at me and not talking to me?”  
“I’m wondering if your armour ever gets hot?”  
Keith tilted his head, being forced to think felt like effort  
“It’s okay if you don’t want to say. Can’t ruin that manly rouge Barbarian vibe you’ve got going”  
“I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s annoying in places, shiny in some, weird in others”  
“The shiny loops are shiny. I kind of want to smack at them”  
“Smack them?”  
“Don’t judge me, I’m part cat you know... we like shiny things”  
“Are you saying if I had a laser pointer, you’d chase after the red dot?”  
Pike drew his brow, not answering for a tick or two, before slowly asking  
“What’s a laser pointer?”  
Shit... The question had slipped out in surprise. He knew Pike had certain cat like traits, but didn’t expect him to want to play with things that were shiny  
“It’s a magical spell. This little red dot appears...”  
“Does it move?”  
“Yeah”  
“Then I’d probably want to chase it... My mother always said I never acted my age”  
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing”  
“It’s a little pathetic”  
Keith made a sudden realisation   
“Is being part cat how you caught those two birds? Is that a thing for you?”  
Pike threw him a dirty look  
“Yes, I totally turned myself into a giant cat and went tree stalking. What do you think?”  
“Stupid question?”  
“Very. I caught them making snare traps”  
Keith had the feeling he’d insulted his boyfriend, trying to back track, he wasn’t certain he wasn’t making it worse for himself   
“You can do that? I know you can make explosives, but I... I’m being a dumb boyfriend right now, aren’t I?”  
Pike immediately softened his expression  
“No. No, you’re not. Sorry, you’re only trying to understand and I got snappy. Yeah, I can make and dismantle most traps. Shiny things make me want to play with them, but I enjoy watching birds and lizards. I don’t kill for fun... I don’t enjoy killing things... I’ve never liked taking a life”

Lance had never either. Keith wouldn’t forget the day he’d found Lance crying on Blue’s ramp. His pack mate hit by the shock of just how many Galra lives could be found on a battle cruiser. Keith hadn’t thought about until Lance mentioned it, them both queasy at thought. He wanted to reach out and take Pike’s hand, yet couldn’t because he was carrying the stupid bags  
“Me neither... I know sometimes it can’t be helped. Quiznak, it sucks. It doesn’t really get any easier, even trying to justify it”  
“No... no, it doesn’t. Even... I mean... I’d rather die than hurt someone innocent...”  
“Yeah...”  
Keith would rather die than lose Pike to the energy of the pearl. He and Pike had both killed in this world, yet Pike was still far more innocent than him...  
“That took a depressing turn...”  
“I can’t even remember what we were talking about”  
Pike didn’t smile at his joke, Keith really hating the bags of provisions. Letting out a deep breath, his boyfriend pulled himself up to stand straighter  
“I was asking about your armour and we got side tracked. I know the point of it is to be practical, but it suits you. You in Black, it’s like it’s meant to be. I think you’d pull off a red cape if you ever got one... Red never looked good on me”  
“I wouldn’t say that, but Blue suits you. It brings out the blue in your eyes”  
“Hence the blue necklace and the blue head band. I think I’m going to try and find a job in the next village”

Keith nearly tripped himself with how fast he came to a stop  
“A job?”  
“Yeah. The community notice boards usually have small jobs listed”  
“Not... a permanent one... right?”  
Pike shook his head   
“Is that why you stopped? You thought I was going to leave?”  
Yes. Anyone would thinks so if Pike was going to word it the way he had  
“I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to”  
“I don’t. Getting the pearl to the castle is the most important thing, but some extra gold would be nice. Besides, sometimes the people are nice. I like it best when they’re old people who need a hand... but it’s sad when their families have deserted them. I don’t feel very good after helping them because they go back to being alone again”  
“Being alone sucks”  
“Yeah... so much for getting off depressing topics. Do you want to carry a bag? Pass me a bag”  
Pike wanted to help? He didn’t want to strain his boyfriend... His hips had to be hurting   
“I’ve got them”  
“Pass me a bag. Remember what I said about weight distribution. Block could have taken a bag, then we’d all move faster”  
“Pike...”  
“Don’t. Don’t treat me like I can’t do this one thing. You’re carrying three bags that I can tell are heavy from the look of them. I might not be able to get a day job, meaning me might end up leaving early in the morning again. Ergo, if you wear yourself out now, you’ll be tired tomorrow carrying them all over again”  
Keith raised an eyebrow  
“Since when do you say “ergo”?”  
“Since I’m right about this. Pass one over”

Passing Lance the bag from his left hand, Keith kept the others in his right, slung over his shoulder so they weren’t too annoying to carry. Copying him, Pike slung the bag he’d been given over his right shoulder with a smile   
“See. The world didn’t end, and now you don’t have as much to carry”  
Huffing, Keith started walking again  
“I never said the world was going to end”  
“You never said it wasn’t going to either. It feels as if we’re never going to reach the end of this quest”  
“Don’t be like that. We’ll reach the castle...”  
“And hand over the pearl. I know... it would have been nice if we could have flown there instead”  
“That’d be too simple”  
“Vala used to summon the best mounts. One time she summons this hormaid”  
Keith had absolutely no idea what that was  
“A what?”  
“A “hormaid”. Half horse, half fish, kind of like a mermaid”  
Hormaid was a stupid name for the beast  
“Wouldn’t that make it a “morse”?”  
“I think if you’re thinking like that, it’d be closer to a merse”  
Keith shrugged  
“Mermaids live the sea, you could probably get away with calling it a “Sea Horse””  
Pike gaped, before shaking his head  
“There’s already something called a sea horse and that isn’t it”  
From the depths of Keith’s brain, his mind provided  
“The male sea horses give birth. Did you know that?”  
“How do you know that?”  
Keith had no idea, he’d only said what his brain had  
“I know a lot of things?”  
Lance frowned, adjusting the bag on his shoulder as he did  
“The male gives birth... Do you find that weird? It’s weird, right? Men aren’t supposed to give birth”  
“Some men do. So it’s not so weird”  
“What would you say if I could?”  
Keith didn’t know what to think... He didn’t want to tell Pike “no”, but that wasn’t going to happen in the confines of the game. He hoped some day it might happen, but after they’d returned to Earth... and after Lance agreed to be courted  
“I’d be shocked, but I wouldn’t abandon you, or our children. I think you’d be a good parent”  
Their feet crunched on the leaf litter across the road they were travelling. Keith expected Pike to agree he’d be good parent, maybe even brag that’d he be an awesome parent   
“Pike?”  
“I don’t want to talk about this”  
He’d been the one to bring it up?  
“Why?”  
“Because I don’t... We need to speed up, we’re falling behind”  
What had he done now? He’d never called Pike an omega, plus Pike had said he couldn’t carry children, he wasn’t like Lance... He didn’t understand the barrier of ice between them that Pike’s cool words had thrown up. Every since he’d been thrown into this world he’d been confused, but slowly growing accustomed to how things ran here... Now Pike was asking him this, and he’d answered... What’d been so wrong with his answer that his boyfriend felt the need to shut him out?

*  
Reaching the village they found it alive and bustling. Traders at the market place in the centre of the village didn’t seem overly concerned with outsiders, and though not talking to him since the “baby” talk, Pike kept close enough that Keith knew he was wary of the strangers surrounding them. That was until his boyfriend disappeared from his side, Keith not noticing until he was already gone and party was finding him staring at the local notice board. Coming up behind him, Allura fell closest in the party formation, Pike jumping as she asked  
“What are you looking at?”  
“Vala! Don’t do that... it’s not nice to sneak up on people”  
“Sorry. I was simply curious over what had caught your attention”  
“I was looking at the jobs on the board. I was thinking if there’s something easy on here, I could work this afternoon or tomorrow morning”  
Allura turned her head towards Keith, looking to him for the appropriate response. Giving a nod satisfied her enough to answer  
“Maybe we could all find a job, or find something we could do together. Anything interesting?”  
“There’s a baker who needs help moving flour sacks, but that’s more a one man job. The pay’s not very high”  
“Maybe there’s something else there?”  
“Feel free to have a look”  
Pike pulled off the piece of parchment with the baker’s details on it. Keith had known he would, he wouldn’t have mentioned the job if he hadn’t already decided upon it  
“I’ll go check this one out. You guys don’t need me to book a room”  
“Nonsense, we’ll all come with you. The more hands the faster we’ll be done”  
Vala looped her arm through Pike’s as she completely derailed his plans  
“I...”  
Pike tried to object, Allura smoothly dismissing his objection before it could be voiced  
“It’s fine, we want to help you. Come on, everyone. It’ll be much easier if we all pitch in!”  
“That’s true. Plus they might give us free food for helping!”  
Pidge was trying too hard, she beamed at her comment as Keith dropped his head. Pike clearly wanted to do the job alone, and now help was being forced on him. Keith felt bad for him, but being together with his boyfriend did mean keeping an eye out for anything going wrong... namely bandits, or the Queen’s minions.

The bakery wasn’t hard to find, not with it barely 10 metres from the flour mill. Keith had to admit he was awed by the mill, having never seen technology so old outside of a textbook. The baker himself was a miserable old miser, who took no time in lecturing the party over how wasted their youth was. Allura’s attempts to flutter her eyelashes and change his mood were met with a clueless “‘ey, there girly. Bit of dust in the eye won’t hurt ya”. Shiro was snorted at for being one armed, Keith mocked over his armour, Block mocked over his robes that’d catch and drag the dust, while Pike was mocked for being half human. Pidge had a once over, before being told that kind of work was best left to the men folk. The only one who didn’t seem to be internally melting with rage was Pike, who calmly eyed the sacks of flour that needed to be moved. Gritting his teeth, Keith left the two supply bags he’d been lugging around under Shiro’s watch, seeing his boyfriend had already done the same. As far as Keith was concerned, the grumpy old coot could cart the flour himself, yet he wasn’t about to argue when Pike seemed pretty keen on getting the job done.

Lugging flour that weighed as much as Pidge, only served to worsen Keith’s mood. They couldn’t use the wooden cart thanks to the wheel spokes being broken. Pidge and Block taking it upon themselves to fix the thing seeing Block was kind of useless and Pidge was determined to show the old man he’d picked the wrong woman to mess with. Having their alpha side present would have meant not relying on personal strength alone... not like Pike who was determined to move the whole damn sack with how fast he worked. Not once did he complain. Not once did he speak up, not even when the old man “accidentally” struck Pike in the shin with his walking stick that looked every bit as old as the decrepit piece of quiznak that wielded it.

Hours had to have passed before the last sack of flour was neatly placed in the bakery storeroom. Pidge and Block had fixed the carts, as well as the sign that hung over the bakery door. Shiro had shifted from standing to napping near the supply bags, with Allura’s head on his shoulder from where she’d joined him on sidelines. Keith felt as if he’d never free from the flour dust again. Sweat binding to the fine dust, leaving him sticky and unimpressed. For all their hard work, their wages were a gold coin to each, Pike staring down at the coin sadly as the party roused themselves up enough motivation to walk back towards the inn the baker had been “oh so kind” to mention. The job sucked. The wages sucked even harder. They’d worked their arses off from the stupid old man. They deserved more than one gold coin each.

Very little was said between them on the walk, the group making their way to the door of the inn before Pike’s sudden stop caused the whole group to come to a standstill. Dropping the bag of supplies near Shiro’s feet, Pike began backing away  
“Pike?”  
“I’m... sorry. I...”  
For all their hours of labour, Pike was light footed as he fled without answering Allura. Vanishing twice before finally vanishing behind one of the closing market vendors and failing to reappear. Yelling his boyfriend’s name failed to bring him back. Keith dropping his two supplies bags as he kicked himself for watching Pike run like that... then again, none of them had moved. The fellinwere’s face was filled with sorry, tear tracks cutting through the flour on his lover’s cheeks. His hard earned coin had been dropped on the gravel of the road  
“What was that?”  
“I don’t know”  
Stopping down, Keith picked the coin up, staring at the shining gold  
“I need to go find him”  
“Maybe he needs to cool down?”  
Shiro was wrong. Pike couldn’t handle a lot of things, but he’d never just drop his money and run. He didn’t even say why he was sorry, or offer any kind of explanation   
“Keith, maybe Shiro has a point? Was it because we wanted to help with the job? Did we step on his feelings?”  
Pidge sounded so small as she asked, Keith shook his head  
“He wanted to do it alone, I could tell right away. Maybe he wanted the gold for something? He says he likes taking odd jobs like this”  
Pulling out her coin purse, Pidge withdrew a gold coin, holding it towards Keith   
“He can have mine... If there’s something he wants, he should buy it. All Block and I did was fix that wheel”  
“Pidge...”  
Allura and Shiro echoed Pidge’s generous actions. Allura having to help Shiro, before offering both coins to Keith   
“We didn’t mean to step on his feelings. You and Pike both completed more work than the rest of us. For now, we’ll get accomodation for the night organised. You find La-Pike”  
Keith took the three gold coins, adding them to Lance’s dropped coin in his hand. Closing his hand into a fist, he nodded   
“You guys... thanks. I’ll try be as quick as I can be”  
“Just don’t go getting lost”  
Keith huffed unamused by Pidge  
“I don’t always get lost... I’m going to find Pike, then’ll we’ll both return together”  
“You’re both as bad as each other’s. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving. We’ll see you later”

Keith promptly found himself lost, not that he’d admit it. He’d disappeared in the same direction Pike had, only to find the building a maze behind the market. He’d barely gone three streets in before everything started looking the same... and he’d barely gone another 2 when he heard villagers over talking if they should call the town officers to take in the crazy man crying by himself. Grabbing the one doing the talking, he scared the woman as he demanded to know where this man had been. Her companion smacking his arm until he apologised and released her friend, who timidly pointed towards a corner that lead to more housing at the back of the street. Startling them as he took off jogging, he was sure they’d summon the first village officer they found to arrest the pair, meaning he had to get to Pike first. Keith was sure he would have reached Pike faster had his stupid armour not been skin tight. The sewing chafing near his crotch until he was forced to slow to a half-jogged walk.

Turning the corner he followed the sounds of crying. By now he knew Pike’s sounds all to well to know that the sound was Pike, there was no hesitation as he hurried the best he could until he finally found his boyfriend curled against a rock wall. With his hands over his ears, Pike was sobbing so hard that one would have expected someone to have died with that level of grief. Beside him was a puddle of vomit, his boyfriend not in good shape as Keith crouched down in front of him. Taking Pike’s wrists in his hands, his boyfriend flinched away from him. His face flushed around his cheeks, and ashen elsewhere  
“Pike...”  
Shaking his head, Pike tried to pull his hands free, Keith not letting go despite his struggling  
“Pike, hey... hey, calm down. It’s me”  
“Let me go!”  
“No”  
The blunt reply cut Pike’s crying, eyes widened before he started struggling again  
“Let me go! Let me go!”  
“No. Not until you talk to me. What’s going on?!”  
“Let me go, K-... argh!”  
Stunned by the “K”, Keith’s hands relaxed the hold, Pike’s hands flying up to his head to grip his hair as he screamed out in pain. Doubling over his already curled form as he threw up. What in ever living quiznak’s name was happening?! Watching Pike vomit, Keith couldn’t help the way he wrinkled his nose in disgust, or the way his eyes then widened at the traces of blood in the pool beside Pike. Catching him as he started retching, Keith pinned Pike back up against the wall. Pike’s blue eyes blazed with pain, half open... guilt filled...  
“What the quiznak... Are you... are you Lance?”

He didn’t know where the question came from, only hearing it as it hit his ears. Pike was quick to shake his head, yet Keith could almost feel the fear rolling off his boyfriend   
“Let me go...”  
“Lance?”  
Pike cringed, before letting out a growl. Keith finding himself kicked backwards as Pike climbed to his feet, starting to turn to run  
“Lance?!”  
Managing to find his feet, Pike had gotten two steps in while Keith was now internally freaking the fuck out. At his name, Pike dropped, clutching his head as he screamed again  
“You’re... not Pike...”  
“Get away from me!”  
“You’re Lance... It’s me, it’s Keith...”  
“No! No...”  
Pike’s whole body was shaking, he tried to stand only to drop again, his head striking the dirt hard enough that Keith knew that had to hurt. Unable to find his feet, he found himself crawling to Pike, hands scrambling on his boyfriend as he pulled him into the tightest hug he possibly could  
“I’m not Lance... I’m not... I’m not... I’m not... I’m Pike”  
Quiznak... He’d fucked that right up. Pike was Pike, and Lance was Lance  
“Shhh. Shhh... I’m sorry, I pushed you too hard. You reminded me of somewhere dear to me. You’re so much like him that I couldn’t stop myself”  
“I’m not Lance... I’m not”

Pike’s face was buried against Keith’s neck, Keith hushing him softly. Keith felt certain Pike was Lance, he felt Pike was protesting too much... When he’d asked in game before, Pike had pulled a blade on him, just as fast to deny he was Lance as he was now... Pike had screamed at him... Shiro and Pidge both called it an “Omegas’ Scream”... yet none of them had really thought about it. The game was controlling Pike as much as Pike was controlling the game. His character shouldn’t have the abilities of an omega, let alone the ability to leave him physically affected by the scream. Pike was Lance. They knew that... but did Pike know he was Lance? No... he couldn’t have. He had a past. He’d told Keith about his past... unless that was a lie... but Pike wouldn’t benefit from lying... and he was pretty sure Pike wasn’t lying to him. Did Lance believe Pike’s backstory? Maybe the game was punishing Pike each time it felt he was getting too close to waking up or realising he was Lance? Pike had lost it when Keith had tried to use his name... fuck... Fuck. The Barbarian was sure he’d seen the guilt of recognition across his boyfriend’s face... So... Pike knew he was Lance, but every time he tried to admit it, the game did what? Rewrite his memories? Confuse him on what “Reality” really was? Punish him for being too close to the truth? Then there were the times he’d cradled Pike in his arms... Pike had to know about the first time because he was part Lance, so what about the rest?

“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to upset you. I freaked out because how upset you are. Do you want to tell me what made you so upset?”  
Pike probably couldn’t. He’d thrown up, collapsed in pain, and balled his eyes out all in the space of however long they’d been near the wall  
“Right. Dumb question. The other’s got us a room. Let’s go back. You can sleep, then we can talk once you’ve calmed down. I shouldn’t have lost it at you. You’re okay... I’m an idiot, and you’re okay now”  
Keith wasn’t sure how he was going to react if his hunch was right. That’d mean Pike was lying to him all along... and... and that Lance was deceiving them... Lance lying... his last big lie had left his life in limbo, another might push Keith to snapping in ways that’d ruin their relationship forever.

Carrying Pike back to the inn, Keith was glad not to be responsible for carrying anything else that day. His arms were sore, the flour still sticky, and armour needed a good clean. Held up against his chest, Pike had his right hand curled to cover his eye, with his tail wrapped around Keith’s waist as he purred jerkily in his near sleep state. Waiting for them at a table near the stairs up to the next level of the inn, four out five of their friends rose to their feet as Keith carried Pike over to them. He’d learned the hard way opening doors with his hands full nearly meant dropping Pike, leaving him forced to admit he needed help  
“Oh, no... Oh, Pike... Is he...?”  
Allura’s voice quivered with concern, hands coming up to cover her mouth   
“He’s been sick. He feels feverish too. Can you show me to our room? He needs to sleep it off”  
“I’ll take you. Pidge, can you and Shiro please wait here until our meal is prepared? Keith, sorry, you’ll be sharing with the rest of us. They had one room available, but assured us there were six beds”  
With only one room available, there wasn’t much point arguing for privacy. They’d only be there overnight  
“That’s fine. Can you see if you can get some extra water? He’s not up to bathing”  
Pidge gave him a quick mock salute, before leaving to head to the bar. Allura gestured at Keith to go before her on the stairs, Keith mentally sighing to himself over how many damn stairs there seemed to be.

Four doors down from the stairs was their room. Three bunk beds were crammed into the tiny living space to make a “U”, with two tables in the back corners of the room. On the table to the left was the lantern for the room, with the table to the right the only place to place down any of their things   
“I know it’s horribly cramped. But it does have a nice... homely feel”  
Keith found himself unable to see any of the “homely feel” that Allura spoke of. Everything was dusty, the blankets across the bed were a gaudy patchwork of dull earth tones. There was barely any light coming through the room’s solidarity window behind the back bunk bed, and the whole place smelt of damp. To settle Pike down, Keith was forced to stoop, then promptly smacked himself on the back of the head on the wooden from of the top bunk because the bottom one was ridiculously low. He couldn’t fit between the bunk levels when he tried, feeling lame and uncool as Allura watched on. He needed to talk with Shiro over his suspicions, or the day just might break him down enough that confessed his new theory to the whole group when he wasn’t sure his brain wasn’t making the jumps to “hopeful” logic instead of “true” logic.

“Let me light the lamp. Maybe you could slide your swords under the bed for now? Pike’s blade should fit under there too. I’ve already placed my arrows and quiver under the right bunk, so are the provision bags...”  
“I’m going to have to. This room is ridiculous”  
“It’s homely”  
Keith rolled his eyes at Allura, Allura breaking down giggling   
“Alright. It’s awful. I wouldn’t trap my worst enemy in here”  
Now she was going too far. It was functional, even if it was only barely so. They had what they needed, which was a bed for the night   
“Good thing we’re only here for the night”  
“Yes, it is rather. Did Pike tell you the cause of his distress?”  
Allura moved to climb on the opposite bottom bed, then gathered the lamp off the table   
“I upset him pretty badly. He was already upset and throwing up before I found him...”  
“And he didn’t say, why?”  
“He was gripping his head. I think he must have a migraine or feel one coming on”  
That was a blatant lie that didn’t sound very convincing. Keith didn’t want to mention Lance’s name, when it seemed to cause his boyfriend pain...  
“I wonder if it’s because we’re now closer to the castle?”  
“Maybe... and maybe not”  
“We should expect things like headaches and migraines... I hope he wasn’t crying because he felt we felt he couldn’t help the baker alone”  
“We won’t know until he’s calmed down enough to talk... but there was blood in his vomit. I know we don’t have any choice, and I know it’s most probably a strain on your character, but I think we’re going to have to rely on a mount to get us closer to the castle”  
“I’ve been thinking that too. You two were rather slow following us. I was certain you must have been talking, yet when I glanced back I found you weren’t”  
“We talked a little”  
“That’s good. He really does seem to think the world of you”  
“The feelings mutual. I know you’re busy with the lamp, but when you’re done can you check in with the others. There’s no way we all fit in here to eat comfortably”  
Allura did something with the lamp, it’s glow soon illuminating the corner of the room  
“That’s one less thing to worry about. I’ll head down now. Let me know if you need anything else”  
“He’s pretty out of it. If he’s up to it, I’ll see if I can coax him downstairs for dinner”  
“That’d be nice. I miss talking to him... we all miss having him around. Not that I’m... well... I’m saying...”  
“Allura, I get what you’re trying to say. He relies on me, not that you blame me for it”  
“Yes, exactly. I’m not very good in these kinds of situations”  
“We’ve never been in this kind of situation before. We’re all doing the best we can”  
“I know. I wish I could do more. Right. I’ll check on the water situation, you make sure to get some rest too”  
“That goes for you and the others. We’re a team, don’t forget that”

Pike hadn’t moved since being placed on the bed. His lover soft beneath his hands as Keith made him as comfortable as he could. When Allura returned with a pitcher of water and bowl, Pike remained stationary until Keith started wiping at the trail of vomit clinging to Pike’s chin. Groaning, Pike’s eyes fluttered open, only to start drifting closed almost immediately, Pike trying to fight falling back to sleep  
“Relax, I’m here. You’re okay, babe. We’re at the inn, you can sleep if you want to sleep”  
Dipping the cloth back in the water, Pike rolled to his side, unable to draw his knees up thanks to Keith being in the way  
“You don’t need to be upset. I’m not upset with you. I’m not mad... You’re not feeling very good, but I’m here”  
“Sorry...”  
“Shhh. We’ll save for that for when you’re up to talking again. You feel like you have a fever. You’ve probably be feeling pretty quiznak all day”  
“... the money...”  
Keith didn’t expect Pike to talk about money  
“We got paid. You don’t need to worry”  
Pike’s breath hitched as he nuzzled into the rather flat pillow beneath his head  
“... I wanted... to buy you a courting gift... but... I...”  
Keith melted. His heart hurt for his poor boyfriend as his words sunk in. Pike had wanted to do something for him with money he’d made by himself   
“Babe, you don’t have to buy me things”  
“I wanted to... I wanted to do something for you... and I couldn’t even... I couldn’t...”  
“Hey, it’s okay. I don’t need anything”  
Pike was crying again, sniffling sadly as he tried not to  
“I wanted to buy you a present... because courting goes both ways...”  
“You were upset because you thought I wouldn’t want you... because you didn’t buy me anything?”  
Pike nodded, Keith wringing out the cloth he’d been using before placing it across Pike’s forehead  
“You don’t need to buy me things. Being with you is more than enough for me. I’m not worth these tears”  
“Your worth more than anything to me...”

Fuck it. The bed was narrow, his armour was a mess, Keith’s feet hung off the edge as something in the mattress prodded into his side, and the pillow really wasn’t that great, still, he settled himself to lay along the very edge as he slung his arm around Pike’s waist  
“You mean the world to me too, you know... in every reality”  
Pike groaned at him, Keith pushing whatever the game was doing to Pike back on him again with talk of “reality”  
“Don’t... my head feels like it’s going to split in two...”  
That wasn’t Pike denying he knew he was Lance... That was Pike admitting he knew yet talking about the subject caused him physical pain  
“I’m sorry. I won’t say... I want to say that I know what you can’t say... or at least I have the feeling that I know what it is, and that I won’t say it again... only now I know I know, and I know not to... I think. I don’t know how to say it without hurting you”  
“Then don’t...”  
“Alright... I haven’t told the others... and if you want me to leave, I can go back downstairs. I’m here for you”  
“I don’t want you to go”  
“Then I won’t”

Pike grew restless as his fever spiked, tossing and turning, whining in pain as hands gripped at the flimsy blanket. Keith didn’t want to leave Pike to suffer, but with the water in the bowl being dirtier than he’d noticed, he kissed his lover’s forehead before slipping from the room and heading downstairs. Pidge was the first to notice him, the dwarf scoring playing cards from somewhere and not caring she was showing her hand as dropped the cards to table  
“How is he?! Allura said he wasn’t well?”  
“He’s come down with a fever. I actually came down to get some fresh water”  
Allura pushed her chair back, holding her hands out to take the bowl of dirty water from him  
“Sit for a moment, I’ll be right back”  
Taking her seat, the party seemed to be playing poker. Pidge with the largest stack of bronze coins in front of her, ignored as she stared at him  
“What?”  
“Don’t “what” me. Pike has a fever? How is he? Should he be alone?”  
“I’ve only come down for more water. The fever’s gotten worse”  
“Did he push himself too hard at the mill?”  
“No... no, this is something else...”  
“What do you mean something else? He took off, then you bring him back in your arms, now he’s come down with a fever. What’s going on?”  
Keith nearly folded right there. Pidge’s scowl was as fierce as she was  
“I don’t know. He was upset enough that he was throwing up and passed out. He woke a little when I first cleaned him out, now the fever’s making him restless”  
“Maybe Block can cast a healing spell on him?”  
Block wasn’t casting anything on Pike. Not until Block was Hunk, and Hunk was sure it wouldn’t do more harm than good  
“He reacts badly to magic”  
“Then did he bump into something magical?”  
It was bad enough all the feelings brought up by Pike being Lance, or Lance being trapped in Pike. Whenever his boyfriend must have been too close to revealing anything the game must have punished him. Now Keith was stuck with this secret, that could cause the whole party to suffer thanks to it. He needed them all in game, meaning he couldn’t risk telling them all the truth. Shame settled deeply in his gut. Pidge was worried as hell over Pike, and all he could feed her were lies, for her sake and most for his, he couldn’t tell her. Keith felt certain that his knowing would cause the game to send some dangerous threat his way. Lance didn’t seem to want the others to know. He didn’t seem to want Keith to know... but now he did... fuck, he felt so small. He didn’t know where Pike ended and Lance began. He didn’t know how many times Pike had wanted... no, Lance, had wanted to tell him only for this sort of thing to happen. He felt lied to, a little used, and a little too happy to know Lance was in there somewhere. Especially when he thought of the way Lance had yelled as he’d attacked the gargoyle. Now the party was in danger all over again, not that the danger ever seemed to end, but this was a whole other kind. He couldn’t talk... yet not talking... Groaning, Keith rubbed at his face  
“Not that I know. I really don’t have any idea about what’s going on here. All we know is that he’s sick, and I probably shouldn’t leave him alone until that pearl’s delivered”  
Pidge gave him a long stare, for too perceptive   
“I’m going to punch you if you’re hiding something”  
“I promise you can, just as soon as we’re out the game and Lance is safe”  
“I’m going to punch him too”  
“You’re not punching my mate. I should get back. The cloth’ll need changing”  
“You better not have hurt him. You’re definitely hiding something”  
“I did... and I can’t talk about it. Not yet. I’m sorry”

Keith nearly bumped into Allura as he stood. Allura casting him a concerned expression before Keith was taking the bowl of water from her and fleeing back up to Lance. Maybe... he didn’t want Shiro to be harmed, but maybe if he could tell Shiro without telling him, his brother would be able to save all of them from this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuuuuuun. 
> 
> In my defence, Pike did go crazy being called Lance all that way back when... and I have a need for them courting... like, a dire need.
> 
> Keith isn’t okay. He has the shook... and he feels the betrayed... and he also hates the game more than ever now.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Casually walks in as if I haven’t left you all hanging for days. Sorry, I’ve been peopling and helping out a friend.

Keith couldn’t sleep. Shiro was snoring loudly enough the room seemed to be shaking. Pidge had tried smothering him with a pillow, pulled back by Allura and sent back to her bunk. Block had vanished to get a drink, only to not return. Pike was wrapped up in his arms, pillow over his head as he tried to block out Shiro’s snores. This was ridiculous. He was a full grown man, cuddling his boyfriend, being tortured by snoring... Pike snored, yet his snores were cute. Not this sound that sounded like a dying Weabloanian worm. Feeling something thudding against the back of his head, Keith sleepy groaned, peering over his shoulder to see Pidge pointing upwards to Shiro   
“Make him stop”  
“You wake him up”  
“He’s your brother. Take responsibility”  
With a long groan, Keith rolled himself off the thin bed, joints complaining as he did. Standing up, he nearly fell back down from exhaustion. Shiro’s snoring may have been the current main contributing factor to his sleepless night, but his mind wouldn’t shut up over Lance either. Lance had wanted to buy him a courting gift. Lance. Lance who was Pike, wanted to buy him a courting gift. Lance who hadn’t been able to tell the difference between him and Darkstorm when Darkstorm had bought him that necklace. Pike said he’d liked the headband, but by comparison it felt pretty lame... even though nothing they bought in game would make it back to their reality, Lance had been in tears over not being able to buy him a gift. Leading Keith to believe that Lance thought they were dating, outside of their characters, and he didn’t know what that looked like.

As Shiro let out another rumbling snore, Keith reaches up to shake his brother’s shoulder. Shiro’s snore hitching before being followed by an even louder snore. Shaking his shoulder again, his brother swatted at his hand, mumbling between snores  
“Shiro, wake up!”  
Shaking him harder, Shiro let out a grunted snore, before jumping as he woke dazed   
“Keith?”  
“Roll over, you’re snoring”  
“I... what... huh?”  
“Roll on your side...”  
Shiro rolled over, falling straight back to sleep as he did. Climbing back into the small bunk, Pike felt for him, Keith wrapping his arm around his boyfriend, hoping it was the last they’d hear of Shiro’s snoring for the night.

The silence from Shiro barely lasted five minutes. Letting out another ridiculously loud snore, Pidge finally snapped at the sound as Keith mentally groaned to himself  
“Fuck, this. I’m going to sleep downstairs”  
Retrieving her pillow, Keith watched Pidge over his shoulder as she shuffled off to the door. The gremlin slamming it closed behind her as she left. From the darkness above came Allura’s voice   
“What was that?”  
“‘s alright, Allura. Pidge can’t take the noise”  
Allura let out a small huffed groan  
“I’m not sure...”  
Cut off as a scream pierced the air, both Keith and Allura went flying out of bed. The thought of sleep gone in the same instant the scream met their ears. Striding over, Keith made it to the door before Allura, yanking it open before stumbling back. Outside the room the passage had changed. The walls and floors warped as if someone had take the the space and twisted it. The stair landing was gone, with the corridor in the opposite direction now seeming to stretch forever   
“Keith?”  
“Get your weapons. Something’s wrong”

Allura didn’t argue, gathering up both hers and Pidge’s gear as Keith retrieved the things from under the bunk he shared with Pike. He’d known the game was going to pull some kind of bullshit, he just expected it to not come in the form of the inn being some kind of weird trap. Shaking Pike’s shoulder, his poor sick boyfriend groaned at him sleepily  
“Babe, you need to get up. Something’s happened to Pi-... to Meklavar and Block”  
“Meklavar...?”  
“Yeah. She screamed. Sh-Gyro. You need to get up!”  
Rising to shake his brother, Shiro woke startled all over again  
“What...”  
“Meklavar and Block are in trouble. There’s some kind of magic here. We need to leave”  
Shiro swore, starting to get himself together as Keith leaned down to see how Pike was doing. His poor boyfriend staring at him in confusion over why his clothes weren’t cooperating with being pulled into place. He didn’t know why Pike wore a one piece, only it was quiznakkingly annoying to get him out of it. Holding his hand out, Pike took his hand, blinking sleepily as Keith pulled him off the bunk before straightening out his clothes for him  
“Meklavar’s in trouble. I need you to stay behind me and to stay close”  
Pike nodded, no one other than Shiro was rested for whatever was going on. With his current fever and sick state, Pike wasn’t going to be able to protect himself, let alone attack whatever had gotten Pidge   
“You okay?”  
Pike rubbed at his eyes, nodding as he did   
“Sleepy”  
Keith finished settling Pike’s coat into place, kissing his sleepy boyfriend on the forehead  
“I know you are, we all are, apart from Gyro who felt the need to summon a damn dying worm into our bedroom”

Above them Shiro asked  
“Worm?”  
Allura giggled despite the fact they were about to head off to slay whatever had gotten Pidge   
“You know, your snoring. It sounded like a dying beast”  
She gave a few very nasally fake snores before laughing. Shiro seemed genuinely confused  
“I was snoring?”  
“You were... Right, hurry up and get down here already. Meklavar’s in trouble, and Block’s been missing for hours”  
“Coming down...”  
Sliding off his bed, Shiro nearly landed on Pike who was pulled out the way in the knick of time. They may have slept with their shoes on, but Gyro wore steel boots. Him landing on anything had to hurt  
“Gyro, you and Vala handle the supplies. We can’t afford not to take them. Pike, I want you to stay close to me. There’s something magical happening outside the room. If things go wrong, you need to run”  
“B-...”  
“I know you don’t want to leave us behind, but we have to get that pearl to the castle to save you. I know you, Pike. So for my sake, if I tell you to run I need you to run. I promise no matter how far you go, I’m always going to find you”  
“I can’t leave you here...”  
“You won’t be leaving me. It’ll be a “see you later”, not a “goodbye”. We still have a lot to talk about, and I believe you owe me a courting gift”  
Pike wrapped his arms around him so tightly Keith nearly let out a squeeze in surprise over how strong he was  
“Don’t you dare think about getting hurt, you hear me?”  
Keith would have hugged him back if Pike wasn’t pining his arms  
“I do. Now stay behind me. There’s something happening with the corridor”

Opening the door to their room, Keith poked his head out. The corridors still twisted in both directions. Not one to listen, Pike nudged his way between Keith and the door, sticking his head out  
“It looks fine to me”  
Keith blinked   
“What?”  
“Can’t you see the stairs?”  
“You can?”  
“Yeah?”  
Pike sounded confused over what he was supposed to be seeing that was so wrong. Allura whispered from behind them   
“Dark, Pike is our rogue. If it’s a trap, he’s going to be able to see through it”  
“Babe, can you really see the stairs?”  
“They’re right there... if it’s a trap I can guide us through... hold my hand, actually, all of you hold hands and follow me”  
“B...”  
“I can do this much”  
Now it was Lance cutting him off... fuck... he was so used to mentally correcting himself that now he was having trouble not thinking of Pike as Pike. Lance was in there. His Lance was in there and his Lance wouldn’t lead him wrong   
“Alright. You take the lead, but only until we get out of this trap”  
Lance gave a curt nod, his expression determined  
“Okay... let’s get Block and Meklavar back”

The stairs warped and twisted under their feet. Pike’s footing was sure as he walked down them as if they weren’t in some kind of bad trip. Holding each other’s hands, they stepped as Pike stepped, sometimes stepping onto what appeared to be black space that they’d surely fall into if they hadn’t seen Pike step there only a few seconds before. Reaching the dining area of the bar, Pidge was putting up the fight of her life. Standing on a table, she was armed with a fry pan, smacking back the hands reaching for her. The villager that’d been drinking earlier now looked as if they’d been risen from hell. Their skin tinted green, eyes black, clothes little more than rags as they hung off their thin bodies  
“Meklavar!”  
Smacking the head of the villager trying to climb onto the table, the smack made a sickening wet thud as the man fell backwards into the groaning crowd  
“Don’t just stand there, help me!”  
Releasing Lance’s hand, Keith drew his blades, his boyfriend was swaying on the spot as he stared at the horde between them and Pidge  
“Vala, lay cover fire. Gyro, stay close to Pike. Meklavar, keep doing what you’re doing!”  
Keith went to charge, Lance catching his arm as Allura pushed something into his hands. Seeing Pidge swinging the pan, he’d momentarily forgotten it wasn’t her axe. That was her fault for wielding it so confidently. Allura pulled the sack of supplies higher on her shoulder instead of grabbing her bow  
“Clear a path. I’ll get Pike and Gyro out of here”  
Ever the dad of the group, Shiro spoke over Allura  
“Darkstorm, you help Meklavar. Vala, take out the ones you can. We should fall back to the bar, we don’t know what’s on the other side of the door”  
Shiro made a fair point. There may be a hoard of villagers in the inn, but outside they weren’t all nicely contained. Lance threw his hands up   
“We can’t just abandon Block... Dark, watch out!”

With his hand on his arm, and a touch to the waist, Keith found the world spinning as Pike pulled his crazy rogue trick out the way of three crawling villagers. His boyfriend had him clear before their creepily long skeletal looking fingers could reach him, Keith finding them up on a table two short of where Pidge was still fighting. Now the team was fractured, Shiro grabbing Allura’s hand to pull her towards the bar, as Pidge continued to smacked at anything moving  
“Babe, can you reach P-Meklavar from here?”  
Keith was little awed over how far they’d travelled in the blink of an eye, though it really wasn’t the time to be awed. Half the group that’s been fixated on Pidge were now shuffling towards them. Their eyes might be black and dull, but they acted as if they clearly knew enough to be some kind of intelligent   
“I think so”  
“Grab her. I know I said to stay back, but I can’t make it across those tables as fast as you can. Can you make it to the door?”  
Pike bit his lip, from a quick count there were three tables he could use to get closer to the door, then a few metres he’d have to stay on ground  
“I’m not leaving the group in here, when we don’t know what’s going on out there. I’ll grab Meklavar. You think about how we’re going to reach the bar”  
There were six tables between them and the bar  
“Can you move both of us at once?”  
“No... I’m surprised it worked with you as it is”  
“Okay. I’ll start clearing the path, you follow on the tables”  
“Guys! Can you stop having a moment and help me!”  
Pidge’s pan was starting to prove ineffective as the people she knocked down returned to their feet  
“Pike’s going to grab you, then we’re going to make our way to the bar”  
“Then can you hurry it up!”  
This wasn’t time for a quick kiss or a “good luck” promise, Keith going to, only for Lance to vanish onto the next table, then the one after in rapid succession. As he reached Pidge, his tail was caught, his left hand swinging wide with Pidge’s axe as he fell backwards. Snatching her axe as Pike fell, Keith was about to leap to his boyfriend’s aid when Pike caught himself, pulling his precious tail free and landing crouched on the table where he kicked backwards at his attacker  
“Pike?!”  
“I’m good! Come on, Meklavar. Let’s get you back to the group”

Pidge squeaked as Pike seemed to half tackle her, the pair appearing back one table over from where she’d been. Vanishing again, the table Keith was on was soon crowded. Pike swayed as he landed, Keith immediately catching him before his lover could fall. His cheeks were flushed, still gripped by fever   
“Whoa, I’ve got you”  
“Sorry... I just got a little dizzy, I’m fine now”  
That was a load of quiznak. Pi-Lance wasn’t fine. He would have been if Keith hadn’t pushed him to reveal the truth. Now he had that and the added pressure of the magic around them. Armed with her axe, Pidge was cutting down the mobbing hoard, but she couldn’t do everything by herself. He was forced to let his boyfriend stand under his own steam  
“I’ll take point, Pike, you stay between me and Meklavar”  
Lance hefted a grumpy sigh before replying  
“I’m fine”  
“I’m not saying you’re not”  
“Then don’t treat me like I’m in the way”  
Lance being grumpy seemed uncalled for. The fellinwere obviously lied about feeling fine. His grumpiness had to come from how sickly he currently felt   
“You’re not in the way. If anything happens, you’re our middle line of defence”  
Pidge turned to glare at the pair of them, she had to be exhausted from fighting alone   
“Guys, we don’t have time for this. Can we please get to Vala and Gyro already?”

As a child Keith had never played “the floor is lava”. He’s heard of the game, Pidge and Hunk talked about enough when they’d trained to avoid actual lava. If he had played, he’d gotten the feeling he wouldn’t have enjoyed it very much as he really wasn’t enjoying the situation. Being the tallest he was nominated to step first across the tables, while slashing down the creepy zombie villagers, Meklavar went second as Pike and Dark both had a further reach than her, then Pike would be left defenceless for a few far too long moments as he crossed to join them. Between the repeated actions and the villagers that wouldn’t stay down, the process to the bar took far too long. Pidge nearly lost her axe, and Pike had lost almost all colour in his face as he sweated profusely. When they did finally reach the table closest to the bar, Allura started firing flaming arrows under Shiro’s guidance, trying to buy them extra time as they hopped off the table to make the last of the journey on the ground. With the flaming arrows not having much effect, both Pike and Meklavar were propelled forwards by Keith. His desire to protect was growing, leading to his strength increasing, and him accidentally “throwing” Pidge over the bar instead of boosting her up. Pike got scruffed as he went up, landing awkwardly on the bar before scrambling over. Keith then leaping over right into the cabinet of bottles... his face reddening as cursed his Barbarian strength under his breath.

Crouched behind the bar, the “game” had turned from “the floor is lava” to “whack-a-mole”. Allura getting into it with the bottles rather than the flaming arrows  
“We need to get out of here”  
Pike shook his head, immediately disagreeing with Pidge  
“We don’t know what’s out there. Our best bet is to wait until sunrise”  
“We can’t leave Block. He can’t be in the inn, or he would have heard the commotion”  
Pike’s ears twitched, his lips turning down with guilt  
“I agree with Pike”  
Pidge rolled her eyes at Keith before swinging her axe at an arm coming over the bar. The lopped limb falling on Pike who gave a shriek before throwing it back over the bar   
“Of course you do”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
Keith’s tone was bitter. He wasn’t agreeing with Pike simply to agree with him. He was agreeing with Pike because they didn’t know the lay of the town, nor if there were more of these villagers waiting for them  
“That you always agree with him”  
“I don’t always. We don’t know how far this magic has spread. The whole town could be infected”  
“Block is our team mate”  
“We’re not saying...”  
“It sounds like you are. If we can get out the inn, we can make a run for it once we’ve got Block back”  
Pike’s shoulders slumped, the fellinwere mumbling  
“I didn’t mean we should abandon him...”  
“Then we should go...”

“I think we should scout the area. Then decide. If we fall back to the kitchen, we should be able to see what’s happening outside the windows”

Pidge narrowed her eyes at Shiro. Allura dropping back down behind the bar, gritting out  
“I can try summoning a familiar to send scouting. If they find Block, they can lead us to him, then I’ll summon a mount to get us out of here. We can’t fight them all, and not all night”  
“They could be hurting Block...”  
Pidge didn’t know Lance was in there, nor did she know how much it was hurting him to hear the things he was already thinking out loud. If this was their reality they’d already all be armed and moving out to save their pack member  
“Meklavar, I know you want to get him back, but we can’t in our current situation. Patience yields focus. And us being hurt worsens the chance of a successful rescue. None of us want Block to suffer, yet we have to be realistic here. Pike is ill, I have one arm, we have three heavy bags of supplies and your armour. If we can fall back to the kitchen, we can send out a scout like Vala suggested. From what I hear none of you are well rested enough to fight this all night. We’re not giving up on Block, we’re withdrawing to a safer place to figure out what to do next”  
Pidge bit her lip, Pike brought a hand to his mouth at Shiro’s trademark mantra, Keith nodding as their eyes met, trying to tell him his suspicions were right  
“Okay... okay. I don’t like it, but you’re right. Let’s fall back”

As they ran for the kitchen, the villagers figured out how to climb over the bar. Some weird villager lost two fingers as they slammed the heavy wooden door between the bar and the kitchen closed behind them, Vala knocking the iron bar into place to lock the door securely. With no one in the kitchen area, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Pike’s knees buckling the moment the lock slid into place. Dropping his blades, Keith caught his boyfriend, lifting him with ease as he then carried him over and sat him down on the long preparation table in the centre of the kitchen  
“Vala, get some water... Meklavar, find a bowl”  
Near on the moment Meklavar handed Keith the bowl, Pike was vomiting. Nothing more than a few dregs and spit. His left hand gripping Keith’s arm weakly as he retched  
“Pike!”  
Pidge sounded alarmed, Pike flinching in guilt, as if he was to blame for how magic now affected him and not the evil bitch queen  
“It’s the magic. His fever’s risen again”  
“We need to get out of here”  
“Pidge, you need to calm down”

The name slipped from Keith’s tongue without thought. Pike immediately heaving, at the reminder of their reality, as he struggled to stay upright. Shiro steadying him with his hand against the middle of Lance’s back  
“We’ve got you. Let it out”  
Leaning into Shiro’s touch, it was the most physical Pike had been with Gyro voluntarily. Either out of progress, or sheer exhaustion, it was a step in the right direction   
“Sorry... sorry... I’ll be fine in a minute”  
“You’re not fine, you idiot. Don’t say you are”  
Pidge took the glass of water from Allura, thrusting it at Pike. Keith had wanted a fresh bowl of water for Pike’s fever, he hadn’t thought about giving his boyfriend something to drink. Thankfully his team thought him more thoughtful than he was  
“Drink this. You’re probably dehydrated as quiznak”  
Pike trembled with the effort to holding the glass, Keith helping him raise it to his lip  
“Maybe a bit... Thank you”

Shiro reminded Pike to sip, as Pidge rearranged her armour. Finding another pan, she looked ridiculous with both her axe and the iron fry pan dual wielded. Allura laughing at the sight of her, earning a fierce scowl from the dwarf. Sighing at the group of them, Shiro’s voice was firm  
“Meklavar, you don’t need both of them. Leave the cookware alone”  
“I was thinking that maybe we could lure Block back... He likes kitchen stuff”  
Right. Block... There wasn’t enough space in Keith’s mind to remember everything, at least not when he kept finding Pike first and foremost in his thoughts. He’d really gone and turned into a love sick idiot, who still hadn’t picked both his swords back up  
“Vala, you should summon your familiar. We don’t know how long that door will last”  
Pike started coughing, Keith finding himself being ridiculous again as he cuddled him up to himself. Kissing his boyfriend’s hair, he nuzzled into the sweaty locks  
“You need to rest”  
“I’ll be alright... We fell back to... plan how to get Block back, not take care of me”  
“You’re still sick”  
“Me being sick isn’t going to save Block. Can you see anything out the kitchen windows?”  
Shiro shifted his hand to grip Pike’s shoulder  
“I’ll watch him. Darkstorm, you see if you can see anything. Meklavar, see if there’s anything you can find that’s useful and not a pan, Vala, you summon your familiar. Pike, Dark is right. You’re burning up, and need rest. The best way we can help is to stay out of the way for now, alright?”  
Pike didn’t reply, Keith was sure Shiro could have found a way to phrase things better. He needed to let his brother know Lance was in there before Lance’s mood triggered something worse to happen   
“Go on, Dark. I’ve got him”

*  
Keith had always thought Allura’s level of intelligence rivalled that of Pidge and Hunk, yet for someone so intelligent, she’d wound up setting the inn on fire with her arrows. Pike smelt it first, Shiro calling them over from the window they’d gotten open above the kitchen sink. Being the smallest, Pidge had been boosted up to sit in the sill, scouting what she could as she watched over Allura’s summoned familiar. Keith had taken over her job of searching for supplies, trying to make the bags of supplies lighter for their inevitable fleeing, their belongings lay strewn thanks to their new wave of panic. Now they were stuck in a burning building. Trying the latch on the side door of the inn, the stupid thing wouldn’t lift. Pidge could get out of the sink window, as could Allura. Pike would struggle, but not as badly as Shiro would with one arm.

“Pike, what do you have on you?”  
“Me?”  
Questioning Pidge’s question, Pike stared at her blankly  
“You’re a rogue. You must have supplies on you”  
“Oh... uh... hang on”  
Pike patted his pockets... before starting to pull out bits of junk. Keith had stripped his boyfriend and never found any of things Pike was pulling out now. Pidge elbowed Keith in the side, snickering at his expression  
“He took deep pockets as a trait”  
“That would have been nice to know earlier”  
Placing handfuls of junk on the table, Pike’s tired face lit up as he pulled out three small disc like devices  
“Holy shit! You still have these?!”  
Whatever it was, Pidge was excited  
“Yeah... I used a few”  
“Quick, give them here. We’ll use on the door”  
Pike passed Pidge the three disks, Pidge practically skipping to the door where she pressed one of them into the slim gap between the door and bolt. The others went into her pockets  
“What’s that?”  
Wriggling her fingers, she grinned mischievously at Keith   
“Just a little something we developed on our travels to defeat the Coranic Dragon. I recommend you look away and cover your ears”  
Keith was clueless. Not covering his ears, he regretted it when the back door exploded off its hinges. He knew Pike knew his way around explosives, yet had no idea how he hadn’t accidentally blown his legs off by keeping something like that in his pockets. Snatching up Pike’s things, Allura shoved them in the closest supply bag, before roughly shoving it into Shiro’s hold  
“I’ll summon a light arrow, Meklavar, I need you to carry a bag of supplies, you too, Dark”  
“Did we forget the part where Pike keeps explosives in his pants?”  
Wondering aloud, he was nudged by a snickering Pidge  
“You’re lucky you didn’t lose anything important. Now grab a sack, we’re going to get Block back and kiss the creepy village goodbye. Is it bad I’m hoping the fire spreads? That’s bad right? I’m becoming too much like Meklavar”  
“That’s because you are Meklavar. We don’t want the fire to spread, we don’t harm innocents”  
“Uh, Gryo. Did you forget about the zombie hoards after us? They’re not exactly innocent”  
Keith was inclined to agree with Pidge, though the thought of the villagers burning to death wasn’t appealing. Not when he’d lost his own father the same way. They might not be real people, but for a short time they kind of had been. They’d been the villagers selling their wares, with homes and families waiting for them. Spacing out, he didn’t come back to reality until Pike placed his hand on his arm  
“Babe, we need to go”  
“Yeah... yeah, sorry. Let’s get Block back”

Heading out the side door, the central market place was bathed in light. Villagers were pounding on the inn door, all the same dried up husks as the people inside the inn. With their attention on the burning building, none of them paid attention as they party stole into the shadows, Allura keeping her hand up to muffle the light coming from her arrow as she led them closer to the source of light. Being night, the inky darkness felt suffocating. Keith feeling somewhat like a wanted criminal as he gripped his sword harder. They hadn’t come to the village intending to cause trouble. Pike had even been looking forward to taking up work in order to buy him a courting present, only that wouldn’t happen now. There was maybe one final village between them and the castle, located in the Quite Plains, and them reaching that village all depended on Allura’s navigation skills when it came to her summoned mount. Creeping through the darkness, he stared at Pike’s back as they crept. Pike wasn’t well enough to be running around like this, not while burning a fever, and not when the night was cold enough for their breaths to fall in puffs of condensation.

Two corners later and they were free of the inn, moving around the edge of the market place initially away from the light, not towards it as Keith had thought. If they’d headed right for the light source they would have plowed right into the villagers, Allura smart enough to guide him around. Pidge had said she felt more like Meklavar, and now Keith found himself agreeing that he kind of felt more like Darkstorm with the whole “stab things before thinking”. Ducking through the stalls, the light grew clearer. Beneath a dome of magic, Block clutched his staff. Some kind of sigil beneath his feet as his magic kept him from being attacked. Excited to see him, Pidge forgot their were meant to be being stealthy   
“Block!”  
As Pidge ran toward Block, Block span in his magical dome. Raising his staff, their healer brought it down hard enough that the earth beneath their feet rippled. Dropping to one knee, Pidge stared at their friend, Allura running up behind her dismissing both her floating familiar and her light arrow as she drew a fresh arrow from her quiver   
“Who are you?! And what did you do with Block?!”  
Bringing his staff up, Block pointed it at Pike  
“It’s all his fault! He did this!”  
Keith’s stepped between Block and Pike  
“Block... It’s okay, it’s us. Your friends. I’m putting my sword away, see”  
Sliding his blade back into position, Keith then passed the bag of supplies back to Pike. Raising his hands to show Block he was unarmed, he edged closer to his friend as Gyro and Pike followed behind him  
“See. It’s us. The villagers here are evil, but we’re ourselves. We had to fight our way out in the inn”  
“Shut up! I don’t want to hear you lies! You’re not my friends”  
“Block...”  
“Ever since he came along everything’s gone wrong! He’s done nothing but complain the whole time. It’s his fault I haven’t seen my family. It’s his fault I’m out here in the first place”  
This was bad. The game was feeding on Lance’s negative emotions when it came to the man who’d been his best friend  
“Why don’t you lower your staff, then we can talk?”  
“The time for talking is over! None of you are who you say you are. You’re not Darkstorm. Just like that isn’t Gyro, Vala, or Meklavar! He’s bewitched you! You’re talking nonsense”  
“Block, I promise we’re still us”  
“Then who is Lance?! Who are Shiro, Keith, Allura, and Hunk?! You’re not my friends, you wear their skins, but you’re not them!”

The air surrounding Block’s magical dome rippled  
“Block, please. Lower your staff, and let us explain!”  
Twirling his staff, Block brought it down hard. The marketplace shaking as the earth started opening beneath their feet. The noise horrible, as if the earth was screaming in pain. Scrambling from the cracking ground, the group was split up, with Pike somehow ending up unguarded   
“Dark, we have to do something!”  
“I know, Meklavar. But what do we do?!”  
Across the crack, Allura fired an arrow into the air  
“I don’t want to hurt you, Block. You’re our friend, and we can explain everything”  
“Liars!”  
The magical dome dropped, Block firing off a spell   
“Lance!”  
Crying out, his boyfriend dropped at his name, the blast of magic barely travelling over Pike’s head where it exploded on the building behind him. Pidge yelled at Block  
“Block, what are you doing?!”  
“That’s not Pike! He’s not our friend! Don’t you remember how he tore you from your family?!”  
“Pike didn’t take me from my...”  
Pidge was cut off as she was sent running by Block firing a spell in her direction. With Block distracted Keith tried to make a move for Lance, the ground exploding at his feet, causing him to stagger backwards. Out of nowhere Allura was suddenly jumping over the gap with Pidge, Gyro coming up from behind  
“Block, please...”  
Firing more magic at Pike, Keith watched as Pike vanished from where he’d collapsed, Block’s magic making an explosive pathway across the market place in the direction Pike must have moved.

“This makes no sense. Why is Block trying to kill Pike now? The game wanted Lance’s energy...”  
Shiro nodded at what Allura said, Pidge looked distressed over Block turning against them  
“You’re right. I know Pike and Block fell out, but why does he hate him now?”  
“Do you think Block’s magic infected the villagers? There really aren’t as many here as there should be”  
Allura’s observation was correct. Given the amount of noise they were making they should have been swarmed...  
“Block wouldn’t try to hurt us... he’s our friend”  
“Pidge, you heard what he said. He thinks we’re lying to him...”  
“He’s trying to kill Lance. Is he working for the queen?”  
Keith shook his head, his bottom lip trapped in his teeth. He knew why the game was after Pike, it was because Pike had revealed his secret. Breathing deeply through his nose, he let out it slowly through his mouth  
“Just like we’re all us, Pike is too. This is the games punishment”

His three friends gaped at him, Pidge recovering first  
“He’s what, now?!”  
“It’s the game. When I found him earlier, I could see it in Pike’s face. When I pushed him he got sick. The game is trying to hurt him because he talked about it”  
“He... what?! No... what... but...”  
“Whatever we do, we can’t say we know. When he tries to tell us, or tries to tell us the truth, the game punishes him. We’ve all got control of our characters, but Block doesn’t”  
Pidge dropped back to land on her arse  
“He... how... why hasn’t he...”  
“Hunk was his best friend. He always turned to Hunk, until Hunk wasn’t there and he felt like a burden. Out of everyone, not having Hunk by his side hurt him the most. And thanks to this fucking game, he’s trapped inside Pike and he can’t talk freely about it”  
Shiro seemed disappointed in him, Allura was growing teary again  
“How horrible”  
Keith nodded  
“Yeah. So we need to find a way to stop Block before he hurts Lance. I fucked up by calling Lance by his name. He probably doesn’t have the energy to move now...”  
Pidge groaned  
“I can’t believe this. I hate this stupid game! We were off on an adventure and now it’s changing the rules again...”  
“Never mind that, we have to figure out what to do now...”  
Peering over his shoulder, Shiro’s eyes widened  
“We need to move, now!”

As they turned to see why they needed to move, the market place glowed a fierce yellow. The ground beneath them giving an almighty crack as they all began to fall.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith is the biggest softest Barbarian that ever lived. Fluffy bits and a little bit more ahead...

Keith had time to recognise there were screams in the air before his body hit something unexpectedly slushy. The air driven from his lungs as he lay face down and winded, fingers clutching at something unbearably cold, as his senses protesting their return as he forced himself up enough to flop on his side. The world around him was white as far as his eyes could see, soundless and far too cold. For a moment he wondered if he’d died, only to scold himself because surely he wouldn’t feel as if he’d taken a Galra cruiser to chest if this was death. Blinking until it sank in, he found himself laying in snow, the wind rushing over him as cold as the snow beneath him. Snow... why the quiznak was there snow? And where the quiznak was he? Hunk had betrayed them... no... Block... fuck... fuck... Pushing himself up, Keith groaned as one hand went to his head and the other to his stomach, his chest quiznakking hurt, but more important than his pain was the fact he seemed alone  
“Pike!”  
He wasn’t biased... much... He cared about his team mates, it... he... Keith’s heart was racing with panic. Lance needed him more than the others did... and he needed Lance. Throwing into the sudden field alone, he was filled with loneliness from the barren scape around him. Everything felt so big and unending, as if he was a tiny ant staring up at the bottom of a boot  
“Piiiiiike!

“K-K... Dark!”  
Gracelessly Keith drew himself to his feet, snow slush leaking into his holey boots. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he was sure he’d heard Pike  
“Piiiiike!”  
“Dark!”  
Pike’s voice seemed to echo, Keith couldn’t pin point the location it was coming from  
“Pike, where are you?!”  
A flash of light shot into the sky, before promptly being snuffed out in the whiteness  
“We’re over here!”  
That was Allura! Thank quiznak they’d landed near each other  
“Don’t move! I’m coming to you!”

Keith took three steps in the snow and decided he hated it. With their Paladin armour they more or less shielded against weather like this. They did run the risk of overheating, but freezing to death not to much. Why couldn’t Lance have dreamed up something a bit more modern in game?! He was going to have to have serious words with his omega when they were back in their own time frame  
“Vala?!”  
“Over here!”  
Grimacing, Keith tucked his hands under his armpits as he started trudging towards Allura’s voice   
“Keep yelling! I can’t see you!”  
“What do I say?!”  
“I don’t know!”  
“That isn’t being helpful!”  
Blinded by snow, frozen by wind, and in wet boots that made his toes burn, Keith had expected snow to be more like... cotton wool. Kind of fluffy, easier beneath the boot, and not so wet. He missed his desert. He missed the dry heat of the land... maybe not so much the freezing temperatures at night. He’d take the endless plains of sand over this...  
“Vala?!”  
“Over here!”  
“Shoot up another arrow!”  
“I can’t! That was my second last one!”  
Well... fuck...  
“Then summon something! I can’t see you!”  
“I can’t see you either!”  
“I know!”

The walk was a small eternity. Keith was still yelling for Allura as he walked right up and tripped over her and Pidge huddled in the snow  
“Thank god, you’re alright”  
Pidge threw her arms around him. Keith staring over her head  
“It’s only the pair of you?”  
“You’re the only one who heard us”  
“You didn’t hear Pike?”  
Pidge shook her head  
“No... we tried calling for Block and Gyro...”  
Pidge shuddered in his hold, her metal armour not made for ice  
“Allura, can you summon us a mount? We’re going to start losing toes if we keep walking around in the snow”  
“I’ve only got the one left”  
“I’ve got snow in my boots. We need to get above snow level”  
Pidge swore, Allura looking confused  
“What it is?”  
“We need to get his feet out those boots and wrapped up or he’s going to lose his toes”  
The Princesses face fell, Keith wasn’t sure it was quite as dire as Pidge made it sound, but he definitely wanted out of his leather boots as soon as possible   
“We can’t allow that to happen. Stand back!”

For someone who’d never seen an Earth seal in real life, Allura summonsed a creature that was amazingly close in appearance. It’s sloping back and wriggling body didn’t make for a smooth ride. Keith mentally flipped off the game as the cling to Pidge’s slim waist, trying not to impale himself on her arm as he attempted to also slide off the beast backwards   
“Allura, this thing is useless. Gyro, can you hear us?!”  
“I trying to summon something else... Bloooooock?!”  
“So a giant seal wasn’t you’re first idea?”  
Allura huffed  
“No. I wanted a furry version of Kaltenecker... I remember hearing about something similar”  
“You wanted a mammoth?!”  
“Is that what they’re called? Piiiiiiike!? Gyro! Can anyone hear us?!”  
It was no good, Keith felt as if they were moving in the wrong direction.   
“I heard Pike closer to where I fell...”  
“I can’t tell which way to go... if only we could see better”  
Keith let go of Pidge’s waist, sliding off the giant useless lump of seal  
“Keith, what are you doing?!”  
“We’re getting nowhere like this. We need to find the others and this seal isn’t helping!”  
He didn’t mean to snap... he just really, really, hated the snow  
“We need to stick together”  
“What we need is to find...”  
Keith was cut off as the ground beneath them rumbled, his footing going out beneath him. “Quiznak” on his lips as he started falling.

*  
For the second time there was screaming in the air, this time it was followed by splashing as his freezing body plummeted into cool water. He barely had time to kick his feet before he felt as if he was falling again, this time he landed on something hard and dry. Someone who wasn’t him let out a long groan, which keith was very much in agreement with as he tried to push himself up. Sodden from head to toe, his toes and fingers were burning from the sudden change in extremes. Nothing felt broken, but it was hard to tell when everything quiznakking hurt.

“What... the... fuck, was that?!”  
“Pidge, language”  
Shiro? Groaning his displeasure at how he felt towards the game, Keith pushed himself up to find everything around them muted shades of pink. Letting himself fall back down, he was happy to lie in a wet soggy puddle if it meant not being blasted somewhere else by the game  
“Keith?”  
Waving a hand was the most he could do reply, indicating he wasn’t dead, he just felt like it. He didn’t want to know where they were... he wasn’t game to raise his head again   
“Well the gangs back together, but what the fuck was that?!”  
Shiro didn’t scold Pidge, a shadow above him darkened the red behind his eyes  
“Keith, can you stand?”  
“Uggggh”  
When that shadow started shaking his shoulder, Keith blearily stared up to find his brother staring down at him  
“What happened to you?”  
“S-now”  
“You ended up in snow?!”  
“Mhmm”  
“We need to get you up and out of your wet armour”  
Too many words... Hold up, Shiro hadn’t ended up in the snow with them? One armed and unbalanced, Shiro ended up hefting him up by the straps on his leather tunic, the world spinning despite how hard Keith had scrunched his eyes up  
“You’ll want something warm to eat. The fire’s already burning in the hearth. Lance is going to be so happy to see you”  
Hunk? No... Block... but he wasn’t talking like Block...   
“Lance...?”  
Shiro snorted  
“Now you’re interested. We landed in some primitive looking village”  
“Not... another village”  
Shiro slipped his arm around Keith’s waist  
“This one seems nicer... it also seems Hunk’s Hunk, and Lance is already here”  
“Lance...”  
He wanted his boyfriend. Keith felt fucking miserable from three falls and soggy armour. He wanted to climb into bed with his boyfriend and cuddle the ever living quiznak out of him. The stupid game must have glitched, either that or they’d all lost time again as their characters played themselves  
“I’ve got you, kiddo. We’ll get you back to your boyfriend, then we’re all going to need to sit down and figure out what happened after the market square”

Keith felt no better as he supported by Shiro into the warmth of a random hut. True to his word the warmth of the fire felt amazing, at it sent his senses haywire again. Everything was too damn sensitive. His feet felt as if he was walking on glass as he limped from the pain  
“Keith needs his boots off”  
Pushed down to sit, someone went to his boots as someone else wrapped a thick blanket around his shoulders  
“I’ll get you some water, then we’ll see about getting something warm to eat”  
Food didn’t sound nice. His head was throbbing fiercely, as if he’d gone and got himself a concussion   
“Pike?”  
“Pike’s here, buddy. Let him sleep”  
“Need to see him”  
“Keith, we need to take care of you first. Allura and Pidge are already changing out of their armour. You need to strip down too”  
He was the Barbarian of the group, so why was he the most useless now that he was kind of upright. And why was Lance sleeping? And why was Block now Hunk... and how?! Groaning loudly at his mental confusion, Keith’s hands went flying to the sides of the chair he was on as his boots were eased off  
“Fuck...”  
“Fuck” was never a great assessment, especially not from Shiro. His feet must be as messed up at they felt   
“I’ll get you a blanket. We need to warm him up. Shiro, get his armour off him”

Wrapped in furs, Keith, Pidge, and Allura all sat in a half circle facing the fireplace, with the mutual understanding not to mention what was happening under the furs... which was a whole lot of nakedness. Hunk had forced a mug of soup into each their hands, seeming pretty at home here. He was the last to join the group by the fire, Shiro preferring to stand as he hovered between Pidge and Allura  
“So... this is weird”  
Pidge snorted at Hunk, she’d been smiling from ear to ear the moment she was aware enough to recognise her best friend  
“Tell me about. The last time we saw you, you were trying to kill us last night”  
“Pike mentioned something along those lines. He was hysterical when he woke up”  
“Pike...”  
Licking his lips, they felt dry. The rim of his mug sat in the dip below his bottom lip, though warmer Keith still felt like quiznak  
“Ignore him, Hunk. He’s a love struck idiot over Lance. What happened?”  
Hunk scratched the back of his head  
“I’m not really sure... Pike hasn’t been very talkative. Not after the first week here...”  
“Week?! We only saw you last night”  
Shiro patted Pidge on the shoulder  
“Pidge, let him explain. Then you can explain to us how you ended up in the snow”  
Hunk nervously shifted his weight  
“There’s not that much to explain... When I woke up here, Pike was crying. He seemed to know it was me right away, but when I tried to talk to him he collapsed as if he was in pain. All he said was that he made a wish, and that we should stay put until you find us. I tried casting a few spells... Man, it really sucked trying to find you with no leads. This village is strange, it’s filled with primitive “bi-boh-bi””  
“Lance knows who we are, he just can’t say anything about it without getting sick. Keith decided to keep that bit to himself until it was nearly too late”  
Keith huffed, yeah he’d messed up but in his defence he’d messed up even greater by pushing Lance when he was already vulnerable   
“It’s not my fault... I was going to talk to Shiro first... I didn’t think Block would turn evil on us”  
“Alright, that’s enough you two. Hunk, how long have you been here with Lance?”  
“About three weeks”

What? How? What... that... this stupid fucking game  
“Three... weeks?”  
Allura sounded as shocked as Keith was  
“Give or take. There’s lapses in my memory”  
Keith was ready to throw his hands in the air, or at least storm off to find something to stab repeatedly   
“That’s this stupid fucking game. This is our punishment for me figuring out Lance was Lance, and telling you all. This is happening because of me”  
“Keith...”  
Allura sounded sympathetic, Keith didn’t want sympathy when he was silently ready to kill something   
“It’s the truth. Block went crazy, then the game blasted us to nowhere, because I spilled Pike’s secret. Now we’re back and Pike isn’t okay... bad things always happen when he’s depressed. I need to see him. I need to talk to him”  
Hunk cleared his throat as his moved to worry his pointer fingers together  
“Uh, I don’t know, man... he hasn’t been...”  
“He’s been opening up to me. I need to see him, Hunk”  
“He’s... not in a good way... he’s in here. The hut isn’t all that big and he insisted we stay here. He mentioned how Vala wanted to see the Quite Plains...”

Hunk opened the door beside the fireplace, Pidge let out a gasp as he did  
“Is that a spell? That has to be a spell”  
“Pike helped me with my magic. Instead of a bag of holding, this is a room of holding”  
That didn’t sound like a place Lance should be. A “room of holding” sounded like somewhere the Galra would keep prisoners between bouts of torture or before sending them off to fight in the arena  
“You figures out how to make a whole room? That’s amazing! Your magic has come so far! What else can you do?”  
“A few things. I’ve been trying to figure out summoning magic”  
“You have to show us!”  
Pidge was gushing with her inner nerd well on display. Keith couldn’t care less, nor could he believe Pidge wanted to see more magic with everything else going on. Calmly, Shiro was the voice of reason. Keith envied his level headedness  
“Pidge, you’re forgetting we still need to talk about what happened...”  
“Shiro, we all know Keith is going to be a broody mess until he sees his boyfriend. While those two “catch up”, Hunk can show us what he’s learned!”  
“You don’t need to make it sound like that... I don’t always jump Lance”  
Pidge sighed at him  
“Yeah, yeah. Of course you don’t. 10 GAC says he can’t keep his hands to himself”  
Allura laughed at Pidge’s bet  
“That’s not much of a bet. Let them be happy. You go see Lance, and let him know we’re alright. He must have been terribly worried over you”  
Keith drew himself to his feet, making sure not the blankets around him prevented any accidental flashing as he did. Standing made his toes and ankles hurt, leaving him shuffling like an old man  
“Lance would have been worried about all of us. He cares about all of us. Don’t forget that. It’s good to have you here Hunk, Block has been useless”

Keith jumped as the door to holding snapped closed behind him. The room was cold and dark, dimly lit by floating lights in light blue and peach. Keith’s heart was starting to race, the room felt strange in a wrong kind of way  
“Pike?”  
Whisper calling for his boyfriend, there was a shuffling of sheets in the distance  
“Pike, babe? You in here?”  
Shuffling forward, the lighting didn’t help erase the shadows across the floor. With the tips of his toes he searched the space in front of his foot before each step  
“Pike... you’re scaring me. Babe, are you in here?”

Hit by a solid mass, Keith was falling backwards, yelping at his arse hit the floor. Warm hands cupped his cheeks as sweet lips were pressed against his. Peppering kisses to his face, Keith relaxed as Pike sat straddling his hips. His boyfriend’s enthused greeting wiping away his fear. After a dozen kisses, Keith felt it was getting slightly ridiculous   
“I take it you missed me?”  
“Where were you?! I was calling for you... I was calling for you and you weren’t here”  
Wrapping his arms around Pike, Keith held him close, kissing his cheek as he nuzzled into him. Pidge was right, he was useless without his boyfriend   
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I made you wait. Are you okay?“  
Pike’s hands slid from Keith’s cheeks to grip at his blankets   
“No! I couldn’t... I couldn’t reach you! You said... you wouldn’t leave me behind”  
“I’m sorry. The stupid game blasted us into a snow field”  
“Snow? Are you alright? Am I hurting you? I’m probably hurting you...”  
“You’re not hurting me. If anything this is the least painful thing that’s happened to me today”  
“Daaaark...”  
Quiznak, Lance was adorable. Even the way he drew out his character name was adorable  
“Fine. My feet are sore. I got blasted into a snow storm, fell through the world into the ocean, then fell back to earth here. Gyro’s here, so are the others. Meklavar is excited Block is back”

Pushing against him, Pike leaned back. His lip between his teeth as he looked away. His boyfriend clearly had something to say  
“What? What is it?”  
Acting as if he’d been sprung, Pike jumped before pushing a smile to his lips  
“It’s nothing”  
It was something   
“Somethings not right, is it?”  
Pike’s smile faltered, as good as confessing that was the case  
“Something you can’t tell me”  
The fellinwere’s ears twitched, Keith struck with the fear that Lance would try to say what was wrong  
“You don’t have to tell me. I never should have pushed you. Not like that... I understand there’s things you can’t say. Let’s say the game didn’t take too kindly to me admitting I know. The others are fine. We’re all fine. And... and I’m so quiznakking relieved to see you. I thought I heard you calling for me, when we were in the snow... that was you, wasn’t it? I’m sorry I couldn’t answer...”  
“It doesn’t matter now”  
“It matters to me. You matter to me”  
He’d have to figure out the Hunk issue on his own. He wasn’t going to put Pike through the same pain as last time. This time he wouldn’t fuck it up   
“I...”  
Pike cut himself off his hand went to his head  
“Babe, don’t. Don’t force it. I’ll work it out. I want to hear more about what happened while we were gone. Were you hurt?”  
“I’m fine, now... I don’t know what happened. I’ve been in...”  
Pike grimaced, Keith hadn’t noticed Lance trying to say anything wrong   
“You can’t talk about it?”  
Pike let himself drop back against Keith with his forehead resting on his shoulder. Pike had new rules... The game had changed the rules again... punishment for Lance again...   
“Why don’t we move to the bed? Or we can see the others if you’re up to it?”  
“I... We...”  
Lance choked, coughing... these new rules seemed unnecessarily severe, unspoken words thought seemed to have the same effects as if they’d been said out loud. Pike wanted to tell him, only now he was being forced deeper inside his character  
“Okay. Let’s get off the floor? I want to see for myself if you’ve been harmed in my absence”

Pike wrapped his long legs around Keith’s waist as he carried his boyfriend to bed. Afforded privacy by the closed door, Keith let the blankets cover him fall to floor as his boyfriend climbed under the covers. With open arms Keith was welcomed into the bed Pike used, his one piece rogue suit replaced by a light night gown that Keith hadn’t noticed much of seeing his attention as on Pike’s face. Laying face to face, Keith’s hand skimmed down Pike’s back, coming to stop on his lover’s bare left butt cheek. Squeezing the soft flesh, Lance let out a small bark of laughter, Keith diving in to muffle the sound with a kiss. He wanted Pike. He wanted the physical intimacy of being buried inside his lover, but he also wanted this. Laying in bed, cuddling, basking in the presence of each other and knowing they were finally back together. Pike had obviously recovered from his fever, though he should have been sick given they were inside a room made of magic. Between them the fellinwere’s stomach protruded further than when they’d parted, the pearl still absorbing Lance energy for it own means. Bringing his hand up, he stroked Pike’s fringe back from his face, his boyfriend leaning into his touch as his hand slipped a little further back before he threaded his fingers through the brown locks, pulling Pike in for a passionate kiss. Relief didn’t seem to sum up everything Keith was feeling. He’d been sure Pike had been calling to him when he’d lost in the snow, yet Hunk said they’d been there for three weeks. That couldn’t be right. Lance didn’t have the life energy left to sustain himself for that long in game. Staying in the Quite Plains had been extremely smart. Allura had to have had the magical map on her, in their now lost supplies, she would have been able to lead them back to the village from wherever they’d landed. If she couldn’t have, Pidge would have been demanding directions from every person they came into contact as they moved to reunite the group  
“What are you thinking about?”  
“How smart you are”  
Pidge was blushing, Keith knew so  
“I’m not that smart”  
“Yes, you are. You recognised we were all split up and you didn’t leave the area. You knew Vala wanted to come here, so you waited. That was a smart thing to do. I’m proud of you”  
Because both he and Lance knew that they both had the tendency to act first and regret later   
“It’s not much...”  
“It is. I’m proud of you”  
“I didn’t do anything...”  
“You did. You waited for me. I’m sorry you had to wait so long”  
“It wasn’t very long... argh...”  
Pike hissed with pain. Keith hushing him gently  
“For me it was a maybe an hour since I last saw you before now. Most of that was us being lost in the snow. I don’t know how we got back, but I would have found away back to you...”  
“Dark... I... I haven’t... been... very good”  
Lance fought to get the words out, Keith found feel how tense he was beside him  
“That’s okay. Whatever happened, it’s okay. You had a huge scare, and that’s going to bring up all kinds of emotions and feelings”  
“Been... bad...”  
“Shhh. Don’t force it”  
Pike shook his head  
“Have... to... tell...”  
Shit. Pike was gasping for breath now. Pushing his lips to his lover’s, he wanted Lance to shut up. He’d already told him not to push it and that’d he’d work it out, but Pike was still endeavouring to tell him. Turning one kiss into three, he slung his leg over Pike’s hip as he wriggled as close as he could get   
“Babe, don’t force it. You’ll be punished. I promise I’ll work it out”  
“D...”  
Pike squeaked before the rest of the word could come out, Keith sighing deeply  
“I don’t want to tell you to shut up. But you need to because right now you’re hurting yourself. Your not in trouble. I’m not mad. I hate seeing you hurt, and whatever trouble this is, we can work out a way for you to tell me what it is”  
His lover sniffled, nuzzling at him affectionately  
“I missed you”  
Pike had basically pounced on him the moment he’d registered his boyfriend was there. His kisses sweeter than rain during drought. When Pike said he missed him, Keith wanted to offer him the whole damn world for being so sincere  
“I know. I would have been sooner if I could have been”  
Huffing softly, Pike’s lips found his, his boyfriend wriggling enough for Keith to find himself being poked. Keith could say he hadn’t intended on having his way with his boyfriend, not with how shitty he felt, but Pike... Pike wanted him. Rutting his hips forwards, the fellinwere sucked in a shaky breath at the stimulation   
“I’m sorry...”  
“Don’t be sorry for missing me”  
“I’ve missed you so much... I’ve missed all of you... my stupid heart won’t stop racing...”  
“Your heart isn’t stupid”  
“It is. You’re exhausted and injured, but my shameless body just wants you...”  
“Pike, babe. Hey... you spent weeks waiting for me, didn’t you. You wanted me to come back and fuck you senseless...”  
Pike groaned at him, Keith hooking his leg as he dragged him boyfriend up into his lap  
“That’s what you want, isn’t it? Me to wreck this pretty little arse of yours? To fill you up like I’m breeding you? Mess your thoughts up until I’m all you can think of”  
Pike’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, turning his head to talk towards his pillow rather than Keith’s face  
“You’re all I can think of as it is. Your lips, your hands, your weight... the way you smile... the way your whole face lights up... You... make me feel alive. I waited so long for you to come back... I’ve been waiting the whole time...”  
Waiting. Pike didn’t mean his game forced absence. He meant he’d been waiting for him since the moment he left to join the Blades permanently. Keith’s heart melted, since they’d arrived in space Lance had had it hard. Then Keith had left, had taken his best friend from him  
“Shhh, I’m here. Your boyfriend is here. I might be a little busted around the edges, but I can give you exactly what you want. When we leave here, you better be prepared to have the fuck courted out of you”

Keith had thought Pike would giggle, or laugh at him for being stupid. Instead his boyfriend’s shoulders slumped   
“But... I’m nothing... I can’t... I can’t give you the world”  
“Even if you did, you’re the only thing I’d want from it anyway”  
“But, I’m broken... I don’t work properly”  
Pike was alluding to his beta-omega status before Lance’s omega side woke. With his red heat, he probably felt he was more broken than ever  
“Whatever happens, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. I know I’m slow, but I promise you I’m courting you with full intent. I want to wake up with you. I want to fight and make up with you. I want you by my side. I don’t know how else I can tell you, because we both know I’m awful with words”  
“I might not...”  
“You might and you might not. None of us know the future. I just know I’m an idiot for not realising my future with you sooner. My ego is going to lose its shit laughing at me for being so slow”  
Pike finally snorted out a laugh  
“That sounds like you”  
“Oh, shut it”  
“I’m just saying...”  
“I’ll give you “just saying””  
Keith wiggles his fingers, mischief in his eyes. Pike had brought this upon himself.

Tickling Pike’s sides, Pike screamed with laughter. Rolling them both over, Keith didn’t stop until Pike was gasping for breath under him. He was gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. His hands were on his stomach, supporting his swollen belly. Eyes scrunched closed with tears in the corner. Slotted between Pike’s legs, Pike cautiously opened his eyes as Keith stared down at him, a long leg coming up to wrap around Keith’s   
“What are you looking at?”  
Coyly, Pike acted as if he had no clue. His boyfriend laid out beneath him as he should have been, hand lazily sliding up from his belly before Pike draped his arm across his forehead  
“You”  
“You’re an idiot”  
“Remember you said that”  
“No, no, no more tickling”  
Pike was starting to laugh, trying to stop himself at the same time  
“I never said I was going to tickle you again... I told you I was going to give you exactly what you wanted”  
His boyfriend’s lips formed a silent “oh”, Keith smirking as he shuffled back, leaning down to kiss a trail from Pike’s collar bone to his snail trail. The Barbarian’s head still throbbed from the shit the game the had pulled, yet he was too enthralled in Pike to focus on the pain. His boyfriend had waited so patiently for his return, he’d trusted in him, and now Keith was going to give him the best damn blow job of his life.

Pike fell apart beautifully beneath him. His fingers threaded through Keith’s hands as he brought his lover to climax. Warning him he wouldn’t last, Keith wasn’t cruel enough to mock his boyfriend. Pike needed the release, he’d been so pent up and worried the whole time apart, his thighs quivering as he moaned sweetly for him. Falling limp as his high washed through him, Keith pulled him up by the hips, using the come in his mouth as lube, he tonguing at his boyfriend’s tight opening. Not expecting more, Lance’s hands flew from his hair to grip the sheets beneath him, Keith close to coming on the knowledge no one apart from him ever had Lance this way. With his jaw tired and his sinuses slightly burning, he ate Lance out sloppily as he ignored the throbbing of his neglected and leaking erection. He didn’t want to come before Lance fell apart all over again. The room they were in was no good for his love’s mental health, Keith wondering if he’d turned into a romantic sap for wishing they laying in front of the fire in the main room. Lance would look divine spread out below him with the shadows of the fire flickering across his body. They’d so easily fall into a messy heap, Lance curled in his arms as they whispered secret things to each other as lovers did. Pulling back, a trail of saliva mixed with cum hung to his lips, kisses then pressed to Lance’s still shaking thighs as he moved to open him further with his fingers. In all their time travelling, he hadn’t thought of how much easier things if they had access to oil. Saliva and cum only worked so well, Pike not growing wet as an omega would. Working from one finger to three, his boyfriend was panting nearly as hard as he was. One hand gripping the sheets as his other jerked himself off slowly. How had it taken him so long to see how beautiful Lance was. Being with Pike was like discovering a whole other side he’d never known existed, though even this version held so many facets that he wasn’t sure he could ever figure out just what went into making Lance. 

Sliding his fingers free, Keith palmed at his straining erection, precum smeared across his stomach in anticipation   
“Tell me if it hurts”  
Pike nodded quickly, looking too blissed out for words. Exactly what Keith had hoped to achieved. Nearly coming at the sensation of gripping his dick, Keith forced down a few ragged breaths before lining himself up to slowly sink balls deep into his lover. No matter how many times they’d had sex now, each time sent his heart racing and his thoughts scattering. Lance felt as if he was made for him, and him alone. Arching his back, his lover let out a long unintelligible mumble, his hands abandoning what they’d been doing to grasp for Keith. Wrapping his arms around Pike, he lifted him into his lap, Pike wrapping his legs around him as he groaned at the jolting and abrupt position change. Raking his fingertips down Pike’s back, Keith’s hands settled on his glorious arse as he let Pike adjust  
“Pike?”  
Resting his forehead against Keith cheek, Pike started to rise, trembling as he did  
“Let me take care of you”  
Pike gave a small nod, his panted breath tickling Keith’s ear  
“You... always... do... mngh...”  
Rolling his hips, Pike moaned, arms tightening around him. Lifting Pike, Keith matched his slowly thrusts with controlling his boyfriend’s hips  
“Not going to last...”  
“Don’t... hold back”

Controlling the rise and fall of Pike in his lap, Keith came fast... a little impressed he’d been able to starve off his orgasm, pushing his lover into his second orgasm as his own hit. His boyfriend felt so tight and warm. His flesh and weight soothing as the room filled with the sounds of their sex. High from climax, Keith let himself slump against Pike. Sleepily and glowy, mumbling soft praises, his face was coaxed up before Pike kissed him deeply, muscle pulsing around him, milking the drops of cum greedily, Keith becoming over-sensitised to all the emotions of the moment. Bonelessly vulnerable, they shared kisses between nuzzles, breaths still panted, smiles wide as they drank in each other  
“Wow...”  
Keith laughed tiredly. He wasn’t sure if he’d describe his lack of stamina as a “wow” moment. As long as Pike was happy, he was happy. Kissing his boyfriend again, he stared up at him through half lidded eyes  
“You’re pretty wow”  
“K-K-... eeee... ith... I-really-like-you-for-you”  
Pike forced his way through the words, sounding like a parrot having its throat wrung. He had to fight to get Keith’s name out, his body suddenly so tense Keith was afraid for his dick. His boyfriend was such a precious idiot, hurting himself to make sure Keith knew his feelings didn’t run one way   
“I know. Why you would is beyond me. I wasn’t a very good friend... you’ve always seen the best in people. I used to hate that about you, but now, it’s one of the things I love most about you. We should rest, you’re tired, I can tell”  
Pike nodded, not moving else wise. Laying his adorable boyfriend back with care, Keith slid from his warm heat then collapsing against his love. The pull of sleep was instant, Keith so very ready to nod off, yet he pooled the remaining energy he had to force himself up again  
“Dark?”  
Quietly questioning him, Keith shot Pike a smile that was mostly lost in the darkness of the room  
“I need blanket so we can clean up. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving”  
“Sorry...”  
“It’s fine. You missed me. Give me a tick”

Pulling off the top blanket, Keith cleaned himself off before cleaning Lance up. Covering his boyfriend with the blankets, he climbed in behind him, spooning around the smaller male protectively. Sighing unto his touch, Pike rubbed his cheek against his pillow as he settled  
“I missed you”  
Soft and sleepily murmured, Pike’s words brought a smile to Keith’s lips. Kissing his boyfriend’s shoulder, he felt spoilt to have Pike to himself  
“I missed you too, babe”  
A few moments of silence passed, before Pike was mumbling again  
“You won’t go... will you?”  
“I’m staying right here with you”  
“I... don’t... like this room... It’s scary”  
Poor Pike. He’d been a prisoner without Hunk knowing. A few hours sleep then they’d all be able to talk about moving on from the village   
“You don’t have to be scared, not with me”  
“I don’t like the dark... keeps... I can’t...“  
Pike was too sleepily to form a sentence, Keith hushing him as he held him tightly. He didn’t like the room either, they only had to tolerate it until they’d both rested, then he’d take Pike for a very long walk and they’d figure out Pike’s new rules together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The game can suck my dick. Leave my poor boy alone. He’s trying his hardest... don’t worry, we shall talk be talking about those weeks apart.
> 
> 💚💚💚


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me casually trying to force myself to write smaller chapters...

Keith woke with a stuffy nose and the feeling of pressure in his sinuses. His throat felt itchy, skin slightly too warm. He’d woken a few times to Pike tossing and turning, his lover suffering for talking about the things he couldn’t. Punishment for making sure Keith knew how he felt for him. Dragging himself up, he rubbed at his gritty eyes, feeling vaguely dead as he did. Ugh. Great. His adventures were catching up with him. He’d probably swallowed more water than he’d realised when he’d been thrown in the damn ocean. Feeling for Pike, his hand met turned down sheets and a cold spot, groggily he croaked out for his boyfriend  
“Pike?”  
Keith sighed to himself when his boyfriend didn’t reply. The logical conclusion was that Pike had left the room, yet with how happy he’d been over Keith’s return, he doubted that was the case. Pulling a blanket along with him, he pretended he cared about modesty as he climbed off the bed and started shuffling towards the door, a low tapping noise providing more guidance towards the door than the dim lighting did.

Slumped sideways against the door, Pike’s tail flicking, back and forth against the wood, was the sound Keith had followed over. The fellinwere had both hands against the door, as if he was trying to keep it closed as he slept. His boyfriend was trying to protect him as he rested, Keith’s happiness swelling at the idea that Pike wanted to keep him safe. Maybe he’d noticed that Keith had started to fall ill? Or maybe he wanted some quality time alone together so they could do more than reconnect physically? Both struck him as very sweet, and very Lance like. Sinking down to squat, then sit, Keith wrapped himself around his lover  
“Babe, come on. Time to wake up”  
Kissing Pike’s cheek, he found it wet. The dim light didn’t allow him to see that Pike had cried his eyes red as Keith had slept. Shaking his shoulder, Keith wasn’t as confident with his earlier conclusions of the situation  
“Babe?”

A gasp came followed by flailing, Pike slamming his hands against the door as Keith was shrugged off. Smacking both palms against the wood, Pike wasn’t holding back  
“Babe! Hey, babe... whoa, Pike...”  
Pike fought him trying to catch his hands  
“Let me out! Let me go! Let me go!”  
His poor boyfriend had been through a lot, the released of the tension held in concern over Keith’s welfare had left him muddled when he’d woken. Already fearful of the dark, and fearful of death, his boyfriend must have stumbled over then started panicking when he couldn’t let himself out the room. Shuffling around Pike, Keith gathered in him back to sit between his legs, a hand on his boyfriend’s forehead as he caught Pike’s waving left hand  
“Shhhh, babe. Shhh. It’s me. Shhh, it’s okay. You’re okay”  
“Let me out!”  
“Hey, you’re okay. You woke up a bit confused. It’s Darkstorm, Pike. I’ve got you...”  
Pike’s yelling dropped to a whimper, Keith glad thanks to his throbbing sinuses, only he wished Pike hadn’t sounded so thoroughly broken  
“Let... me out...”  
“Okay. Okay, I’m going to open the door now. I need you to calm down for me. You’re okay, and you’re safe. You okay...”  
Pike drew himself into enough of a ball that he wasn’t leaning against Keith. His broken crying brought tears to Keith’s eyes. How could Hunk be so blind to Lance’s aversion to the dark? Surely if he could summon small floating lights, he could at least summon some kind of main light so Pike wouldn’t have to be so afraid. Gathering himself up, Keith’s head swam as he stagger once on his feet, sneezing hard enough to make himself jump. For a man who ran around in skin tight leather armour, Darkstorm Thunderspear didn’t seem to be that cold hardy.

Feeling around the edges of the wall, Keith found the wood of the door. His hands running over it’s smooth planks, not finding any kind of handle as he did. There had to be some kind of handle. It was a door. They came with handles. It was kind of their thing to come with handles. What he need was more light, then he’d let Pike out and they’d cuddle up in front of the fireplace until Pike calmed down enough to mumble an unneeded apology.

Hesitant of the flighting orbs, Keith walked over to the closest one. When it didn’t vanish, he carefully cupped his hand around it, expecting to be burn as he did. The orb was warm, but when he found it didn’t burn him on contact, he closed his hand around it, lowering it to his chest. Magic was quiznakking weird, yet this was not the time to be puzzled over not being burnt. Pike needed out, and he was the only one who could let him out with the state his boyfriend had worked himself up into.

Returning to the door, Keith ran his hand up and down, illuminating the fact that there was no handle. Nothing on this side that allowed them to let themselves out. Fuck. Fuck. He couldn’t let them out. He couldn’t get out. Pike couldn’t get out because there was simply no way from this side. Panic bubbled up. He released the light, trying to grip the edges of the door only to find the gaps too thin for his fingers. Slamming his hand against the wood in frustration, Pike whimpered at the sound  
“Fuck!”  
Kicking the door for good measure wasn’t his finest move. The door didn’t so much as creak against his assault. No, all he’d done was upset Pike further. Scooping the light orb to his chest, Keith climbed back down to sit in front of his boyfriend, angry with himself for letting his temper get the better of him  
“Pike, hey. I’m sorry”  
Releasing the orb to float between them, Pike sniffled as he raised his head at the light. His poor eyes redder than Keith could have guessed. His arms were wrapped around himself, his left hand carrying traces of blood. Pike had tried to free them both, for hours by the look of his poor hands. Maybe that was what Pike had meant, when tried to warn Keith something was wrong. Hunk wouldn’t summon up a door with no handle... No... that... that was something Block would do. Keith could have kicked himself. The game was in their heads. It knew how much Pidge wanted Block back. It knew Pike couldn’t tell him that Block was still in control of his character. And, it knew Lance was still working through his feelings for his former best friend. It’d be easy to manipulate Block into telling them what they wanted to hear, because they were all so desperate for it to be true  
“The door doesn’t open”  
Pike shook his head  
“You’ve been stuck in here, haven’t you?”  
Nodding sadly, Pike used his right hand to wipe at his eyes  
“We’re stuck...”  
“I worked it out. But I’m sure the others will too. Gyro will want to know if we’re okay, he’ll open that door and when he does, we can escape”  
“I’m so sorry!”  
Pike was about to dissolve into tears again, Keith quick to gather him up against him  
“It is not your fault”  
“We’re here because of me!”  
Hunk wouldn’t have kept Pike near magic. He would have worked out pretty fast that Pike was scared of the dark  
“No, hey. I’m here because I want to be here. So does everyone else. We all know we fucked up and we all want to make things better. We haven’t been much of a team lately, and we all regret that. But I don’t regret being with you”  
“I... should have fought paaas...”  
“No. Don’t fight it. You’re strong and you’re brave”  
“But you’re sick”

Pike wasn’t supposed to pick up on that. Keith stunned into silence. He’d quiznakked up. Sharing a bed with Pike, Pike would have noticed the symptoms while he slept  
“Is that why you got out of bed?”  
“I thought the door might open if you were here... I wanted to... to get you some water”  
Pike hiccuped a sniffle mid-sentence  
“Oh, babe...”  
“You’ve got a cold. I could... I could hear it in your breathing... but now... we’re both trapped in here”  
His boyfriend was rallying to pull himself back together. His panic attack left him shivering, his words sad and guilty  
“It’s just a little cold”  
“I couldn’t get you water. I wanted to... I wanted to look after you”  
“You do”  
“Not... you’re always taking care of me”  
“Idiot, that’s because... that’s because... I... well... I...”  
“Love” was on the tip of Keith’s tongue. He was completely and totally past the point of simply “liking” Pike  
“... because you mean a lot to me”  
“You mean a lot to me too... even before this... you shouldn’t have to... you should be resting...”  
“I’ll be okay. For now we need to think of a way out. Gryo will come looking for us, so I think if we sit on the other side of the doorway, we’ll be able to get through when it opens”  
“It doesn’t open very often...”  
“That was before. We’ve got the rest of the party here now. If it’s not him, then it’ll be Vala or Meklavar. You trusted in us enough to know you needed to wait here for us. We just need to trust in them a little more”  
“What... what if he h-h-hurts them?”  
“He won’t. That’d be too suspicious”  
“What if you get worse?”  
“Do you really think a cold is going to get the best of Darkstorm Thunderspear?”  
Lance snorted  
“You’re more of a “dork” than “dark”, Dorkstorm”  
“What does that make you?”  
“The idiot who puts up with the dork. I’m sorry. I knew you weren’t feeling well and I made things worse trying to help”  
“You don’t need to be sorry. Panic attacks aren’t something you can control. Trust me, I’ve seen plenty and had a few of my own”  
“I’m not surprised. You’re under an enormous amount of pressure. I just hate myself for not being able to take your pain away”  
“We all want to take away the pain of the people we care for, and we all get mad at ourselves for it. I’m not in your head, so I know it’s not that easy to get rid of that little voice. But, I hate that you hate yourself. We’re not in control of what happens here, so all we can do is our best to get through this”  
Pike snorted again, Keith relieved he’d calmed enough to talk about things that didn’t trigger punishment  
“You’ve gotten so wise... I always knew you had it in you. I believe in you”  
“And I believe in you. Here, let’s get into position, so we’ll be ready when that door opens”

Settling themselves down, Keith found himself laying up against Lance between his lovers legs. The small ball of light hovering above the pair of them as his boyfriend nuzzled into his hair. Water would have been nice, but until that door opened, Keith was content to cuddle with his lover.

*  
Allura was the one to get the door opened, the poor princess barrelled into as Lance pulled them from the room while Keith caught up with the fact they were moving. Modesty went out the window, at least for Pike it did. The fellinwere left to hold him upright as Allura slumped against the chair closest to the door, panting heavily as she did  
“Vala?”  
“Block... gave us... something...”  
Determined to tell them, Allura fainted against the chair after she’d pushed the three words out, sliding to the ground rather than falling. Keith wasn’t fairing too well either, the sudden movement upsetting his head and stomach. Lowering him down, Pike bit his lip as Keith closed his eyes to the swaying world  
“Check on the others...”

Keith was out of it until Pike started lightly tapping his cheek. Groaning, he felt far worse than when he’d woken up  
“Uh...”  
“Meklavar’s gone with Block. Gyro’s slumped across the floor near the fireplace. He and Vala are breathing. I’m going after them”  
“Whaaa... I’ll...”  
“I’ve got your armour and your sword. I know I can’t swing a blade like you, but I have to go after her”  
“You... I’ll come...”  
“Babe, you’re burning up. I don’t think it’s a cold, I think he’s drugged the four of you. I got you some water, but I need you to try and find a way to stay awake until I get back”  
Keith shook his head, regretting the action  
“No...”  
“I don’t want to leave you, but he could hurt Meklavar”  
He could hurt Pike too... He didn’t want to seem as if he didn’t trust Pike, but he couldn’t lose him to the stupid game fighting dirty  
“I’m... coming...”  
“You need to rest...”  
“I’m-not-resting-when-the-man-I-love-could-be-killed!”

Keith’s sentence came out in a rush, trying to explain everything at once with a surge of gathered up energy, that he’d intended to use to stand, not some kind of awkward confession. Pike’s big blue eyes widened, Keith’s cheeks reddened further, which he was totally going to blame on the current fever and not his stupid mouth  
“You love me?”  
“I... yeah...”  
Lame. He couldn’t have been lamer if he tried... This was right up there with Pike yelling at the gargoyle  
“You... love... me?”  
Pike drew it out as if it was something that was highly confusing, and not a mistimed confession of feelings that couldn’t be ignored  
“I do... and... I’m not about to leave you to be injured”  
God. He sounded meek. For a moment he thought of passing it off as a fevered induced babble, but that’d only be a lie. He, Keith, pack leader and Black Paladin of Voltron was crazily, stupidly, in love with his best friend  
“You’re sick...”  
“I can still... watch... your back”  
Wasn’t Pike going to say it back? Now he felt even awkwarder over confessing  
“I... I can’t let you get hurt. Not... not when I l-l...”  
Pike’s hand went to his head, wincing as he tried to return the confession. Shaking his head, his boyfriend let out a long breath  
“I can’t let you get hurt. I’ll be back. Wait here. I’ll be back as soon as I can”  
Leaning in, Pike kissed his forehead before pulling away too fast for Keith’s clumsy feverish self to catch him  
“Pike!”  
“I’ll be back”

Trying to make his body move, Keith succeeded in pulling his armour closer at the same time the door to the hut opened and slammed closed, leaving him behind. For some reason tears came to his eyes, Keith finding himself just as scared for Pike as he was at being left alone.


	23. Chapter 23

Dressed in his armour, chest wet from guzzling down the water Pike had left him, Keith was using his sword for support as he left the Block’s hut. Other than falling face first into the strange village, this was his first time seeing it for himself. Surrounded by muted shades of pink, thick sticks making up the roofing of the various sized primitive looking huts. “Bi-boh-bis” worked on various tasks, dressed in leathers and carrying various stone tools. Some had tusks, some had small nubs near their mouths, and all of them wore smiles as they worked. Coran would have had a field day. Stumbling his way away from the hut, Keith winced hard as he was greeted with a chorus of “Bi-Bi-Boh!”. Yeah, Coran would have appreciated this far more than Keith’s throbbing head did, Coran also probably knew what the smiling villagers were saying to him. They didn’t appear threatening, just tiny with pointy things that could probably take out an ankle if he upset them... they were just... so quiznakking weird. Primitive “Bi-Boh-Bis”... Lance had one hell of an imagination coming up with this place, unless it was based on the game he’d played with the others, then it suited Coran’s uniqueness perfectly  
“Uh, you haven’t seen my friends have you?”  
“Biiiii-boh boh bi...”  
Right. Whatever that meant... He didn’t have time for this. Sneezing hard enough stagger, a stray “Bi-Boh” stared up at him in awe. At least he hadn’t insulted them?  
“I’m looking for my friends”  
Slowing his words down didn’t help the primitive sausages understand him. Growing at them all in disgust, he set about trying to find tracks  
“Bi! Bi! Bi!”

Turning away from the Bi-Boh’s had made them angry, the threat to his ankles seemed somewhat realer  
“I’m looking for my boyfriend. He’s a fellinwere...”  
Who’d walked out after Keith confessed his love...   
“About this tall. He’s got ears and a tail... and a habit of getting himself in trouble...”  
Making the gestures to match his words, he threw his hands up at the lack of reply. They had no right being mad at him. He was mad. He was sick, and Pike had happily skipped off into danger. He had to get to Pike before Block cast a spell on him... and before he ended up collapsing from exhaustion  
“You know what, go be somewhere else if you’re all going to be useless”  
Growling without his alpha was somewhat pitiful, yet it got his point enough that the villagers fell back. Had this been back in reality, his more feral aspects would have been flaring. Here all he got was a slight boost at strength when the thought of saving Lance. He’d felt it before, if he could channel enough of that determination, he just might have the strength to make it to Pike before he made any more bad decisions.

Keeping the villagers at bay with a series of growls, Keith found footprints to follow. Pike had run off without his boots, making his tracks obvious from the two other sets of footprints heading the same way. Finding he was headed to the middle of the village, the first thing he found was Pidge hogtied over a fire pit, the next thing he found was Pike standing before Block, sword dropped uselessly on the ground beside him. He wasn’t close enough to hear what was being said between the two of them, but whatever Block had said had rubbed Pike the wrong way. His tail was flicking back and forth, ears pricked forward  
“Pi-...”  
Keith barely got the first syllable out before Lance was charging Block. Tackling him around the waist, Block’s staff smacked down on Pike’s back, Pike screaming as his feet dug into the bare ground  
“Give him back!”  
From nowhere a wind seemed to form, one moment Pike had his arms around Block, the next he was straddling Block with his hands each side of the man’s face  
“Dark! Stop him!”

Pidge was struggling against the ropes holding her, his attention flicking to his restrained friend then back to Pike. Block beginning to thrash beneath him  
“Pike, let him go!”  
He was terrified for his lover, so couldn’t explain why Block started to scream. His hands coming to his head, over Pike’s, as Pike ignored Keith’s yell  
“Get out!”  
“Pike!”  
Pidge yelled Pike’s name, Pike thrown backwards off of Block, landing and rolling to a group of arguing Bi-Boh’s. Climbing up, Block clutched his head with his right hand as his left tightened around his staff. Keith knew he was screwed as their eyes met   
“This is your fault”  
A shudder ran through Keith’s body, knees buckling. He should have felt pain. He should have something. Block’s words hadn’t been yelled, instead it was if the coldness in them has sapped all Keith’s gathered energy. He couldn’t move. Not as Black began walking towards him, blocking his view of Pike.

Knelt before Block, Block’s staff remained at his side, a thick hand grabbing him by the neck   
“You’re not Darkstorm”  
Keith stared up into the dark eyes of his not friend. They seemed completely black to him, no signs of Hunk in there at all  
“Pike! Pike, don’t do it!”  
What was Pike not supposed to do?  
“I told you to leave! Get out!”  
Hunk’s eyes glowed white, energy flooding through his body, causing his grip to tighten. Unable to cough or wheeze, the feeling caught in his throat  
“You’re not him! He hurt me, not the others. You don’t belong here!”  
A pulse beat like a heartbeat, Block’s knees bucking as he fell face forward onto Keith, hand finally releasing his throat. Coughing and spluttering, Keith fell backwards, Block’s weight falling onto him, driving out the last of his breath. Above him stood Pike, who grabbed Block by the back of his robe and ripped him off Keith. Moving to straddle Block again, Pike placed his hand on the middle of Block’s chest  
“You don’t get to wear his skin! You aren’t him! I made a wish for his return for their sakes. Now I’m making that wish for mine. He was my best friend, and you ruined him!”  
Block’s body seized, back arched as his eyes glowed brightly   
“He hurt me! He left me! He hurt me and I kept waiting for him! I wanted my friend back!”  
Pike coughed wetly, blood splattering across Block’s face. Reaching a hand towards his boyfriend, Keith kept coughing, unable to form words to tell him to stop  
“All I wanted was my friend back”  
Pike coughed up more blood, Pidge was screaming in the background. The light in both their eyes was starting to fade  
“I wanted things to be how they were before... I wanted him to notice. I wanted him to... help... me... I... wanted... one... last adventure together...”

Pike’s hand went from Block’s chest to his mouth, blood running over his fingers choked, before falling sideways. Lance had fought the game. He’d fought his rules. He’d pushed them far enough to throw up blood and admit all along he’d wanted his friend back. Lance had done all that, and all he’d done was lay there... his boyfriend out of his reach. Crying out in frustration only brought more coughing, but his coughing could go fuck itself. Lance wanted to be strong, wanted to protect him... what an idiot. Those feelings ran both ways, it meant nothing to choose without being chosen back.

Dragging himself over to Pike, Keith forced himself up. His idiot had always been good at picking the wrong fights  
“Pike...”  
Tears rolled off his cheeks, dripping down onto Pike’s face. Placing his hand on Pike’s chest, his fingers were met by thick fabric from Pike’s cloak. His boyfriend and that stupid cloak... Keith hadn’t even noticed he’d found some kind of tunic stop and fur pants, nor that he’d found that cloak of his. He couldn’t feel the rise and fall of breath. He’d pushed himself too far. Broken too many rules  
“Pike!”  
Shrieking his name, Keith’s other hand came to Pike’s chest, fingers interlacing was he pushed down  
“No... no... no... no... Open your eyes, baby”  
He didn’t know what he was doing. First aid training going out the window. The love of his life was an idiot. A stupid big fat idiot. What was the point of any of this if he was going to leave? Hadn’t holding him in the dark meant anything? He loved him... he couldn’t fight the game to say that, but now he was running around confessing things until he threw up blood. Tears and snot ran down Keith’s face, he couldn’t get enough height for compressions... something inside him was unravelling, something spreading and breaking...

“Keith?”  
Hunk was watching him. His shaking hands smeared with Pike’s blood  
“He’s not breathing!”  
Screaming at Hunk, Hunk’s face morphed in panic, scrambling across to where Keith was trying his hardest  
“Keith...”  
“He won’t wake up!”  
Hysterical, he was slapped across the face by Hunk. Block wouldn’t have slapped him, he would have cast some magic spell. Sweat was pouring off Keith, barely able to see straight, barely able to get air into his lungs. Lance was so scared of dying again...   
“Stop, stop. He’s breathing... he’s got a pulse...Keith, he’s breathing. He’s breathing, okay”  
“You’re lying...”  
Hunk snatched his hand up, placing it over Lance’s mouth. A warm breath against the side of his hand  
“He’s breathing. You can barely feel it through the fabric... Oh, man... you scared the quiznak out of me... Oh, man... where are we?”  
Wheezing and spluttering, Keith started coughing harder. Unable to catch his breath, he fainted, scaring Hunk further.

*  
A cool cloth was laying across his head. A warm hand held his own. Ruffled brown hair was all Keith saw as he peered down  
“Don’t wake him. He hasn’t left your side since he woke up”  
“Don’t be nice to them! They’re a pair of idiots! Who goes off into battle with drugs in their system, and who goes charging off and gets himself so messed up he’s coughing up blood!”  
“Pidge, we talked about this”  
“No. They’re both idiots. There should be a limit on how many heart attacks someone can give a person”  
Poor Pidge. They’d gone and scared her all over again  
“You guys are too loud”  
Coughing, Keith rose a little before dropping back down. Sitting up was only going to disturb Pike. The cloth slipping from his forehead as he scrunched his eyes up  
“Don’t move around too much. Lance will kick us all out again if you wake him up”  
“Keith, it’s Allura. You were drugged by Block and had a bad reaction. Lance has been taking care of you for the last few days. Hunk is Hunk again”  
Allura spoke slowly, Keith mentally sighing at her. He had a cold, not a sudden onset of partial deafness  
“Allura, he can hear you fine. We were drugged, not blown up”  
Adjusting the cloth on his forehead, Allura giggled at Pidge’s words  
“Oh, oops. Sorry. You’re going to be just fine. Lance has been taking care of you since he woke up. You missed... What did you call it, Pidge?”  
“Dumbarse there missed Hunk and Lance having a bonding moment. The pair of them were crying their eyes out”  
“Did they talk?”

His pack was terrible at being subtle. Keith assumed Hunk wasn’t in the room due to his lack of chatter, leaving Allura, Shiro, and Pidge, all less than subtly “screaming” something was wrong. Things were very wrong for Shiro to come sit down on the bed beside him  
“They talked a little bit. Lance said he wasn’t quite ready and needed a little more time. Hunk said he’s... he’s... He’s lost a lot weight, they had to put a tube in to feed him. Coran’s been keeping his body moving, making sure we’re all taken care of. He’s worried over your vitals. You’ve been in the game nearly as long as Lance. He’d like you to try waking up naturally. He’d like us all to try waking up...”  
“I’m not leaving him”  
Shiro huffed, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose  
“He won’t be alone. We want to see if we can take turns coming and going from our characters”  
“He pushed the game, if you leave, I don’t think you’ll be able to get back in”  
And if they left, what happened to their team? They’d only just reunited. There were things to be said. Lance needed to heal  
“We don’t mean right this moment. We’re pretty safe here, and won’t be moving out until you’re up to it”  
Pike shifted in his sleep, nuzzling his cheek against Keith’s arm. So quiznakking cute  
“What, exactly happened?”  
“You has a bad reaction to the sedative. Increased heart rate caused it to spread to fast. We can only guess, but Lance said you’d been intimate”  
“Did he also tell you we were locked in that room for hours?”  
“He doesn’t want to talk about that. He’s gone far enough to remove the door from this room, it’s been replaced with a blanket. The people of the village have started treating us like we’re gods, we’ve been forced to stay in this temple. They’ve already carved a statue of Pidge from stone by the entrance. They started on Allura’s this morning”  
“Block kept him locked in that room while we were missing. Pike knew enough to stay where they ended up, because Allura had said she’d wanted to see the Quite Plains. He put a lot of faith in the fact that’d we’d come back”  
Pidge swore softly, Keith agreeing with her statement of “motherfucker” whole heartedly   
“You should rest some more. We don’t need to worry about clothes or supplies for the next few day’s at least”  
“No, all we have to worry about is these two idiots running off and doing something stupid again”  
Sometimes it was pointless to apologise, the words would die on Keith’s tongue and things would eventually work themselves out, but Pidge... Pidge had been hurt badly by what she’d witnessed  
“I’m sorry. He told me to wait, and I didn’t. He left me because he was scared of you being hurt by Block...”  
“I know that... apology not accepted. Not until you’re back on your feet and I can punch you for making me worried”  
“That’s fair. Just... don’t be angry with him. He’s doing the best he can. The game’s put new rules on him. He couldn’t... he’s limited to what he can say and do”  
Pidge sighed at him, Keith could almost see her rolling her eyes in his direction.

When the others left, Keith felt Pike begin to move. Wordlessly his boyfriend climbed beneath the blankets to join him, arm and leg draped over him as Lance nuzzled into his shoulder   
“You’re supposed to be resting”  
“I am”  
Pike’s fingers curled to grip Keith’s side, kisses pressed gently to his skin  
“Babe...”  
“You worried me. You were supposed to wait for me... I thought you had a cold. I thought you’d be okay if you just waited for me to come back... Why did you have follow me?”  
Whelp. He was in trouble   
“I followed you, because I love you”  
“You don’t get to say that!”  
Pike was getting sniffly  
“All I seem to do is make you cry...”  
“These are happy tears! I’m so... so relieved”  
“You knew I’d come after you. I’ll always come after you”  
“You were supposed to stay where you were safe. I was so mad. So mad that they hurt you all”  
“Apparently I’m okay now... Are you?”  
“I don’t know what happened... I was just so mad. I wanted him gone... he hurt me, but he never hurt you guys”  
“That’s the thing though, we’ve all realised that we’ve been hurting each other without knowing. He hurt me, because he hurt you. We’re all mad at each other for realising how far apart we drifted. And we all care about you. You’re the glue that keeps us all together”  
Pike shook his head quickly   
“No... no, that’s you. You pour your heart and soul into everything. You... you mean the world to me... please don’t ever do that again”

As Keith shifted Pike looked up to him, raising his left hand, he folded his fingers down to leave his pinky up  
“I promise I won’t do it again, if you promise not to either”  
“Pinky promise? You want to pinky promise?”  
“If it’ll make you listen, I’ll promise any way you want me to”  
Pike snorted at him  
“We both broke this promise already... but... I promise you I won’t run off again”  
“You have to link fingers or it isn’t a pinky promise”  
Pike gave a shy smile as he shook pinkies with each other  
“Spoiler alert, I can’t exactly run away. I... may have upset the pearl”  
“Baaaabe”  
“Meklavar said... I talked to Block”  
Pike choked mid-sentence, changing his topic rather than pushing. So far the Barbarian had managed to keep himself from freaking out over Pike’s well-being simply to keep the mood calm. What Lance had done had to have consequences, he’d been sure Pike hadn’t been breathing. He’d thrown up blood, and what was with his eyes glowing?   
“Oh, yeah. What did he say?”  
“That he was sorry”  
“That’s a good start. Want to fill me in on why else I’ve missed?”  
“Well... you heard that Meklavar’s got her own statue now. Well, it’s of her hogtied over a fire pit...”  
Keith stifled his laughter, there were things he was going to have to ask the group, but for now this was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I finally write fluffy stuffs?


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand there she goes writing a long arse chapter. Sorry guys. I am the worst writer ever *sighs dramatically*
> 
> PS sorry for the repeats in this chapter. Everyone’s gotta have the talk

The entrance way to the temple was far too short for Keith, Hunk, and Shiro. The tips of Pike’s ears brushed against the stone, while Pidge had a good inches worth of clearance. Allura had to stoop, yet she always did it so gracefully you were left wondering if she’d ducked at all. Pike had been right, Pidge had her own statue of being hogtied, and she hated it. Allura was in love with hers, and Hunk wasn’t completely sure when it came to his. His was of Block with Pike, when Pike had charged him. Keith may have “accidentally” kicked his over during building, upsetting the army of Bi-Boh’s working on the structure.

Blinded by the brightness of the sun, Keith slipped out of the temple. They’d stayed too long, the villagers really seemed to like Pike, who appeared to have swallowed a bowling ball while Keith wasn’t watching. Wandering with bare feet and a swollen belly, sometimes Keith would catch the almost smile as Pike rubbed at his stomach, Keith wanted kids with him ridiculously badly. Now that Hunk had entered the game, Hunk was making a real effort with Lance. Rather than him going to Shiro to discuss what had happened as he’d slept, they’d all discussed it together. Hunk wasn’t aware of the rules, accidentally hurting Pike by calling him Lance half a dozen times before Pidge kicked him for not remembering. Pidge had let Hunk know that Pike had said he’d wanted him to help him, Hunk balling his eyes out over failing Lance and not noticing the distance. The group had been wary that Block could be playing at being Hunk, the poor guy had no idea why they were all acting so strange, forced to answer their questions until Shiro pointed out the fact that they were all mentally linked to the game so the game would know the answers because of that. Keith was happy that the team had reunited, other than the fact he had to share Lance with all of them. 

“Pike!”  
Edging the temple was the “temple gardens”. Brown and pink grasses grew in tuffs between pink and brown stones. Having been kept in captivity, Pike now refused to come in most daylight hours. Pidge had started annoying him the previous day into helping her with traps or explosives. They’d set off a rather large explosion that’d sent the Bi-Bohs running to the temple for help, in their attempts to figure out ratios. Hunk was making lunch with Shiro, Allura coming to tell him that Pike wanted to see him out in the garden  
“Over here!”

Picking his way through the grasses, Pike was all smiles as he approached. His cheeks dusted red as sat on a blanket laid out carefully around the grass. In front of him sat a picnic laid out neatly  
“I thought we were having lunch with the others?”  
Bringing his hand to his mouth, Keith regretted his blurred out question  
“We can, if you prefer... I don’t mind”  
“No. Shit. I shouldn’t have said it like that. I wasn’t expecting this”  
“That’s why it’s a surprise. I thought we could spend some time together and talk? Um... it won’t be as good as Block’s cooking, but he did try to help this morning”  
“Did you want his help?”  
“Not really. It was meant to be a surprise for you, then Block found out. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and told Meklavar, who told Gyro and Vala”  
Realising he was still standing, Keith sat down opposite Pike. Pike had made a huge effort with Block, but he didn’t know what they talked about, and sometimes Pike would vanish without any of them being able to find him after talking with their party member   
“Do you want to talk about it?”  
“I need to. It’s getting unhealthy in my head again. I thought we could enjoy lunch together, then talk? I think I need some help with what I’m feeling”

Keith’s face lit up. While not happy Pike was having a hard time reconnecting with Hunk, he understood that fixing that relationship would be the hardest of them all. Pike was still prone to anxiety attacks, he’d screamed not to touch him when he’d an anxiety attack over something Allura had said that’d come out wrong. Being wanted and needed made him feel all warm and stupid inside   
“We don’t we talk as we eat? You’ll want to take a nap in the sun when we’re done”  
Pike ducked his head, then jerked back up. Turning, he grabbed something behind him, before turning back proudly. Leaving one of the something’s in his lap, his lover leaned over the food to place the other one on Keith’s head   
“It’s a flower crown. There aren’t any flowers close by to use, so I wove them out of the grasses”  
Keith went cross eyed as he tried to look up at the band around his head, Pike laughing as he placed his own on  
“You know, if the wind changes your face will stay like that”  
Rolling his eyes at his boyfriend, Keith then looked to him fondly  
“You’re such a dork”

The Barbarian’s words caused Pike to flinch, currently unable to handle the joke due to his anxieties. Shit. His anxieties must have been sky high. His boyfriend had put together an amazing picnic, and now he was teasing him instead of thanking him  
“Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way... Thank you. I’ve never had a flower crown like this before”  
Pike deflated further  
“You can take it off if you think it’s stupid... I was just thinking... that I wanted to give you a gift”  
“It’s not stupid. And you’re not stupid”  
“Sorry... argh! This isn’t going the way I wanted it to...”  
Reaching across, Keith pokes Pike’s knee  
“Babe, it’s fine. This is more than fine. Thank you, for my surprise”  
“Are you sure it’s fine? I wanted to take you out to find something to hunt originally, but I thought the others would worry if we left”  
“Meklavar seems to think we have a talent for finding trouble”  
“Says the dwarf that fought of zombies with a pan, only to end up hogtied... So, um, anyway, I hope everything turned out alright...”  
Everything looked good. The Bi-Boh’s lived in a mostly plant based diet. There seemed to be different kinds of salads, and a dish that seemed egg based, some sliced up “bread”, as well as a meat based sauce. So much time and consideration had gone into this, that Keith found himself blushing as he realised   
“Is this a date?”  
“What? No... Yes... what?... I mean... if you want it to be... but... I, um... wanted... I guess, if you want it to be...”  
Pike’s ears dropped as his gaze fell to his lap, nervously he played with the fabric of his stretched tunic  
“I’d love it to be”  
Flicking his head up, Pike searched Keith’s face for a moment, Keith smiling at the idea of this being a date, even if Pike was too shy to say so outright   
“I’d... like that too. I wasn’t... I mean, I would be lying if I hadn’t panicked over the idea... but I really wanted to... to court you back”  
“Babe, I don’t need...”  
“I know you don’t need things. That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve nice things. Let’s start eating, I’m starving   
How the quiznak he’d gotten such a perfect mate, he didn’t know.

Letting Pike work his way through his first sandwich, Keith waited until he was on his second before bringing up Hunk   
“I don’t want to push you, but do you want to talk to me about Hunk?”  
Placing down the sandwich half he’d picked up, Pike started picking at the crust   
“We... I’m trying. I promise I’m trying”  
“I know. None of this has been easy”  
“I thought if I could talk to Meklavar and Vala, then I could talk to him... I feel like... I feel like the kid sitting alone as the cool kids watch on. He tries, I know he’s trying too, but I can’t... I can’t keep my emotions in check. I tried to talk to him, and explain, like with the others, but I pushed it. He... uh, got mad. He’s pretty disappointed in me... He hasn’t said it. He... doesn’t... I don’t know how to be okay with him, when I’m still scared of the others. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to forgive how differently he’s treated me since we left the magic academy. He was always a great mage, and I tore him away from his future serving in the court...”  
Pike’s eyes went wide, his hand went to his mouth. Both of them taken back by the direction Pike’s sentence had turned. Keith knew what he meant, and he also knew this meant the game was being a dick again  
“Forgiveness doesn’t happen with a click of the fingers. You two have so much history that it’s going to take longer to work through things. Trying is a good step”  
Pike lowered his hand, before opening and closing his mouth, as if testing everything felt alright, then nodding to himself   
“I don’t know if I can yet. Meklavar said I said something about wanting him to help me. I always thought he’d be there as a friend. He got mad this morning because I really wanted to put this together alone. The way he put his hands on the counter, and the way he looked at me as he asked me why I couldn’t trust him... it wasn’t a great feeling... I wished he and Meklavar would get together and...”

Pike shut his mouth again, shaking his head. That wasn’t what he wanted to say  
“You want to talk things out, and figure out how to talk, but you feel like everything you’re saying he’s taking the wrong way due to how strained things have become?”  
Pike nodded quickly   
“Then I’ll be with you the next time you’re up for trying to talk. Did he tell you... about... when Meklavar was tied up?”  
“No. She said you lost it and thought I was gone... that wasn’t a good feeling either. Knowing that I’d failed the party like the seventh wheel I am. I bring nothing to the party other than failure”  
Pike covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes clouded with guilt  
“I know you don’t mean that. I think I’ve worked something out. The more tired and worn out you are, the freer you’re able to talk. We’re trying to work these new rules out, and we will. I’ve talked with the others, separately, which means I’ve talked with Block too. He’s as bad as you are at blaming himself. He’s still playing catch up on the rest of us. We’ll talk to him together. You’ve made a ton of progress already, with everyone. Including me. I like it when you rely on me, and I like it when you cook for me. I wasn’t too sure about this grass stuff, but it’s not terrible”  
Pike wrinkled his nose, lowering his hand. He wanted to speak, Keith promoting him gently   
“Go on. Whatever you say, you don’t have to apologise for it. I know you and I see you”  
“I know you do. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I tried hard to make everything taste good, but it’s hard with limited ingredients. Most of the vegetables I have no idea about... And the grass...”  
“The grass is very grass like”  
“It is... Moooo”  
Keith raised an eyebrow, Pike shrugging at him  
“Moo?”  
“Cows eat grass...”  
“I know cows eat grass. I’ve never heard a cat “moo” before”  
“Stranger things have happened”  
“They really have. I never thought I’d fall in love”  
“Not with a worthless burden like me at any rate. You should be with someone like Vala and Meklavar. Someone who understands you and someone more fitting of the party”

Pike covered his face immediately, shoulders shaking. He didn’t want to reply what he had to Keith’s reminder that he loved him. Moving from his side of the blanket, Keith sat himself beside Pike, wrapping his arms around him as he drew him close  
“I’m sorry... This was supposed to be a nice picnic”  
“It’s still a nice picnic. So, you can cook?”  
“Not as good as Block. Back home on the farm we all had chores, even from kits we all knew we had to pitch in”  
A familiar pain ebbed in Keith’s chest. Lance had had a real home with a loving family, a family he missed more than words could describe  
“What else can you do?”  
“Cook, clean, sew, very basic magic...”  
Pike counted off on his fingers, frowning when his sentence went sideways. Keith quick to perk him back up  
“So you’re the full package”  
“That’s what I’ve been telling you for years”  
“I know. I’m terrible at listening”  
“You’re fine the way you are”  
“I think you’re pretty fine too. Want to finish lunch?”  
“Yeah... I feel like I should be apologising for things going sideways”  
“Nah, it’s about on par with our lives. This is pretty good, you know”  
“Vala said she wants to leave tomorrow... we’ve stayed in one place too long”  
“We needed the time. It’s only going to get harder from here on out”  
Lance groaned, rubbing at his swollen belly  
“Don’t remind me. I feel like I’m carrying half a dozen kits around”  
“We’ll get the pearl out. You’ll be fine, I promise I’ll be with you until the end”  
“You’re nothing if not stubborn”  
Keith flicked Pike on the forehead  
“I get it from my boyfriend. You should meet him, he’s one of the most stubborn people alive”  
Pike hummed as he played along, bumping Keith with his shoulder before picking his sandwich back up   
“I don’t think we’d get along”  
“What makes you say that?”  
“I don’t want to share”  
“I can’t believe you’d think I would ever do anything with my brother...”  
“In my defence you were”  
Keith nearly cursed the game out loud, but held his tongue so Pike wouldn’t be punished. Still.... nope. Nope to Shiro and nope to that with Shiro. He was quite happy with Pike, his dick twitching in interest as he thought of Pike splayed beneath him  
“Trust me, babe. You’re the only one I want”  
“Good. Now eat your lunch. You need your strength”  
“Because napping takes soooo much strength”  
“Shut up. It’s hard work sleeping in the sun. You should try it”  
“Maybe after we’re done eating you can show me how a professional does it”

Pike slept like a cat, curled in a ball with one arm over his eyes. Keith happy to nap around him, after they’d finished everything from their picnic. Keith suspected the juice they’d drunk was slightly alcoholic, low enough to only leave them with a buzz. Somewhat napped out, Keith had grown bored. Poking at Pike’s cheek, Pike groaned at him, poking him again, his boyfriend wiggled back against him. Poking his cheek a third time, Pike groaned at him as he turned his face  
“Daaaark”  
“Hey, you”  
“‘m napping”  
“I know, but if you don’t wake up now, you won’t sleep tonight”  
With a groan, Pike rolled over, stretching out as he brought a hand up to wipe away his drool. Blinking up at him, his boyfriend smiled, Keith leaning in to steal a kiss. Pike huffing a laugh out his nose as he returned the kiss  
“Mmm... hello, you”  
“Hey, awake now?”  
“Nope. Feels so good in the sun”  
“Better than a kiss?”  
“Hmm... you might have to kiss me so I remember”

Clumsily making out under the sun, Keith’s hand had only just crept up under Lance’s tunic when they were interrupted by Gyro faking a clearing his throat. Both of them groaned as they looked to the Paladin  
“Sorry to interrupt. We were thinking of doing some training if you two want to join in”  
Keith wanted something to throw at his brother. He and Lance hadn’t had sex since they’d reunited... He didn’t want to train, he wanted to run away with Pike and bury himself between those long legs of his   
“You want to train... you interrupted us because you wanted to train”  
“Vala and Block thought it might useful to practice their magic in combat. I’m not much help...”  
Keith groaned again, Pike laughing at him  
“I never thought I’d see the day when you wouldn’t want to train”  
“Oh, shut up. I’m busy with more important things”  
“Like getting up and getting your butt kicked?”  
“I’d rather lick yours...”  
Pike shoved him off playfully, blushing hard as he did  
“Not in front of your brother! Gryo, you can borrow him. But make sure you keep an eye on him so he doesn’t over do it”  
“Pfft, if I have to train, you have to be there too. It’ll be good practice with your sword work”  
“What? No. Gyro only asked for you”  
“And as my boyfriend, you have to come with me”  
“Where was that in the agreement?!”  
“It was in there, somewhere in there along with hand holding and kisses”  
“Ugh... fiiiiine. The things I do for you arse...”  
“And the things I’ll be doing to your a-...”  
“Guys, I’m still here”  
Pike laughed, flopping onto his back with his arms reached out towards the sky, Keith taking his time to stand thanks to the fact he was very much still ready to pounce on his boyfriend and have his way with him right there  
“Sorry, Gyro. Darkstorm promises to be a good boy now”  
“And Pike promises he’s going to practice with a sword as we train”  
Stepping over his boyfriend, Keith took both Pike’s hands and pulled him up  
“Ha! Joke’s on you, I can already use a sword!”  
“Is that a challenge?”  
“Do you want it to be a challenge?”  
Shiro sighed at the pair of them, Pike ducked his head as he mumbled  
“I think dad’s mad, we better do what he says”  
Keith nodding, they really weren’t getting out of this, unfortunately   
“Sounds like a plan”

*  
Banned from using his swords as they trained, Keith felt he had an unfair disadvantage as they sparred. Hunk and Allura were really getting into the whole magic thing, Pidge encouraging them as Keith served as the moving target. Pike had been “bossed” into sitting out thanks to the group fretting over him, Keith proud when his lover ignored that in favour of doing warm up stretches then practising sword lunges under Gyro’s direction. His boyfriend’s stance was wrong, he quick to need a break, and obviously uncomfortable with his swollen stomach, but he’d definitely improved with his sword between now and when Keith had left for the Blades. With Pike’s sensitivity to magic, Hunk and Allura had their backs to him in an effort to make sure no stray spell accidentally hit. Keith was supposed to be watching where their attacks came from, yet so much of his attention was on Pike that his mind wasn’t in the game. He’d already nearly taken a fireball to the face, Block “accidentally” shooting the spell his way when Keith was focused on the way Shiro had his body wrapped around Pike to held adjust his grip on the sword and fix his footing. Keith was not jealous... Not at all... Not when his brother had his hand on Pike’s hips, nor when Pike was laughing at something he said. Nope. This feeling wasn’t jealousy, it was concern that Pike would feel overwhelmed or anxious if Shiro pushed much harder... with maybe just the smallest smidge of jealousy over the way Shiro’s crotch had been against Pike’s arse. He knew he had nothing fear, Shiro held no romantic feelings for Pike... yet... He was completely over thinking things. He wanted to steal Pike away, but he wanted Lance to work things out with Shiro.

Standing in one spot for too long, Keith tripped over his own feet when he realised he was about to the target of Block’s spells. The spell flying over his head, as he let himself drop from kneeling to laying face first on the ground. He wouldn’t say he’d lived to train, it’d helped focus all his pointless useless anger into something constructive, but now... now all he wanted to do was ditch training and hang out with Pike  
“Dark, you okay?”  
Calling out to him, Keith gave Allura a thumbs up before forcing himself to stand. They’d been going at the training for a while now, meaning it had to be time for a break  
“Yeah. I think we need a break!”  
Jogging over to Allura and Hunk, Pidge soon joined the group   
“What was with you today? You were all over the place”  
Like he needed Pidge to tell that  
“I have other things on my mind”  
“Pike’s fine. Seriously, Shiro’s been giving him tips this whole time”  
“I know he’s fine... I mean, I know... ugh. Forget it. I’m getting a drink”

The others followed his lead, Pike dropping his sword when he saw it was break time. Taking a glass of water over to his boyfriend, sweat clung to Pike’s forehead as he groaned  
“It’s break time right. You’re not all getting my hopes up for nothing?”  
“Yeah, babe. How was practice?”  
“My everything hurts”  
“That’s a good thing. Means your working out your muscles”  
“Oh, can I strap a hundred kilo weight to your stomach and see how much fun you have trying to move around that?”  
Snapping at him only made Keith smile. Pidge making a fake puking motion  
“Okay, you two are being gross again. We all know Pike isn’t much of a swordsman”  
“Actually, he’s had experience with a broadsword before”  
Keith wanted to question Allura on that, but Pidge sighed heavily and drew their attention to her instead   
“We’ve all had training with swords on the castle”  
“Now, now. He didn’t do too badly. His centre of gravity is currently thrown off. After the break, we should try some hand to hand drills”  
All of them glared at Shiro, who raised his hand in surrender, retracting his suggestion wisely  
“The guy with one arm doesn’t get a vote, got it”  
“You can swap with me and be a human target if you really want”  
“No. No, we’ll call it there for the day. The sun’s starting to set as it is”  
“No more sword training?”  
Keith kissed Pike on the cheek, every time he kissed him it seemed the more and more natural thing to do  
“Yeah, no more sword training”  
“Oh, thank the Lords. My arms feel like they’re going to fall off. Are you okay? I saw you tripped”  
“I’m fine. Those two have no mercy”  
“I blame the dwarf”  
Pidge shot a glare at Pike, Hunk shuffled his weight, worrying his pointer fingers together  
“I’m sorry, man. It’s magic... who ever thought we’d be able to do actual magic! I mean, come on. It’s every kids secret dream that one day you’d find out you can do real magic”  
Pidge patted Hunk’s shoulder  
“I hear you, but magic gets old pretty fast when everything is trying to kill you”  
“I can’t believe you, Pidge. We’re actual characters in a game right now”  
Pike fell against him as Hunk called Pidge by her name, Allura went to grab him before he fell, but Keith was already supporting him  
“I think that’s enough about that. Why don’t we all head back to the temple? Block, you can take the first bath, then you can start on dinner while we all get ready”  
Keith spoke with an air of finality. Hunk most probably didn’t notice he’d messed up. It wasn’t like Keith hadn’t made his own share of mistakes with everyone’s name, that’s why he continually reminding himself to refer to Lance as Pike  
“Dark’s right. We should head back. If we want to leave tomorrow, we all need a good nights rest”

Pike kept close to him as they waited their turns for the bath. Technically it wasn’t a bath, but some kind of holy pool that was built into the temple. The water barely covered their legs when they sat in it, designed for the villagers rather than humanoids. Stripped down to the make shift towels around their waists, Keith sat behind Pike, massaging his shoulders as Pike made it hard. His boyfriend’s head was lolled back against his shoulder, colour slowly returning to his cheeks. Hunk had tried talking to him on the walk back, Pike opening his mouth but when his first words were “Magical academy” he promptly quit, gaze on the ground as he missed the looks of pity from the team. Kissing Pike’s forehead, Pike’s eyelashes fluttered before his blue eyes opened  
“I love you”  
Pike moaned as Keith dug his thumbs into the knot in his shoulder  
“Mmm... that feels really good”  
“Is that right?”  
“Yeah... hey, can I wash your hair tonight?”  
Pike definitely had an obsession with his hair, not that Keith minded.  
“You don’t need to ask”  
“I don’t want to overstep”  
“You’re not”  
“I still feel like I should ask”  
“You don’t. I’m not sure why you’re so attached to my hair, though”  
“It’s so soft”  
“It’s just hair”  
“It’s your hair. You really did come back all cool and grizzled, you know”  
“You’re such an idiot”  
“I’ve been told. You can say no, if you want to. The bath’s pretty small”  
“Like I’m going to pass up the chance for a real bath with you before we leave again”  
“Pervert. We don’t have time to fool around”  
“I never said anything about fooling around. I believe I was promised you washing my hair”  
“This is you. You can’t seem to keep your hands off me”  
“Of course not, I can’t help but want to touch the man I love”  
“You’re a goddamn sap”

“And I’ve heard too much. Your turn for the bath”  
Shiro’s voice came from beyond the blanket that was their door. Pike instinctively covering himself. He wasn’t comfortable with his changing figure, or that his stomach was swollen bringing physical discomfort with it. Keith took it as a deep measure of trust that Lance would let him see Pike like this. The others knew not to mention it, but Pike was ashamed to show them his body. Keith was also looking forward to the future, when Lance eventually conceived their child his body would changed in all the same ways. His alpha wouldn’t be able to contain its self over the thoughts. They’d endured 2 years of confusing and not exactly innocent visions relating to Lance, especially through his ruts. Nobody knew true shame until you had to share a small campsite with your mother, as you fucked your fist over your best friend  
“Thanks! Pike’s going to wash my hair, so don’t wait to eat!”  
Shiro grumbled, his brother probably thought that was code for fooling around. Not that he’d object to that... he just had to be patient a little longer.

Pike insisted on trying to hide his body as they walked through the temple. The others were in what they’d turned into the makeshift kitchen and dining, there was no one there to spring them. Pike didn’t care about his bare arse hanging out, only that his stomach was covered. Keith unable to resist the urge to reach out and run his fingers up his lover’s tail, the effect a shudder running through the fellinwere’s body as his ears flicked up  
“Something wrong?”  
Winding Pike’s tail gently through his fingers, Pike turned to glare at him  
“Stop it”  
“Stop what?”  
“Playing with my tail. We’re going to have a bath, you said no kinky stuff”  
“Gyro totally thinks...”  
“Nope. No kinky stuff or I won’t wash your hair”  
Keith knew Pike would make good on his threat, he raised his hands in defeat  
“Fine, no kinky stuff. I’ll keep my hands to myself”  
“That’ll be a first”  
“I don’t see you complaining”  
Pike turned tail, marching off towards the bath, his tail flicking as he walked. How was he supposed to not play with Pike’s tail when it was so quiznakking soft? And when it left Pike all cute and flustered? Maybe Shiro had the right idea about having a less than innocent bath. It’d relieve some of Pike’s stress, and offer them a release to the pent up energy that’d been building since making out earlier... they didn’t necessarily need to have sex... Now he was faced with a new dilemma, washing his hair would make Pike happy, but fooling around a little would also make his lover all smiley and dopey. He’d have to keep his hands to himself until after Pike had washed his hair, with the hopes he wouldn’t be kicked out the bath straight after.

The water in the bath came from Hunk’s magic. The temperature perfect for soaking after a long day, despite the fact they couldn’t really soak due to how narrow the pool was. Climbing in first, Pike laid out on his back, barely able to fit the length of his body in there as Keith waited for him sit up. For all his complaining, his boyfriend was evidently in the mood for fooling around, not that Keith was perving at his semi. Splashing water on his face, Pike sighed as he sat up, propping himself up on his elbows as he stared at his belly  
“I feel beached”  
“You look it too”  
Splashing water in direction, Pike pouted  
“It’s not my fault”  
“I know. I shouldn’t have made you train”  
“It’s fine. I suppose you should make the most of it, I don’t think I’ll ever be like this again”  
Pike’s ears dropped, his bottom lip finding itself trapped beneath his teeth. Lance had been more beta than omega, meaning he would have found it hard to conceive before he’d been brought back as omega-omega. He must have resigned himself to never birthing children thanks to his beta side  
“Babe, you don’t need to feel guilty about what you can’t control. I liked you before I knew about both sides, and that’s not going to change. Now scooch up so I can fit” 

Sitting in the water, Keith wished with all his might that the pool was deeper, nothing happening at his wish. The room was kept warm by the constant steam rising off the water, but it was still hard to wash properly with both of them in the pool and such little water. Pike started humming as he picked up the leaves they used as soap, Keith jumping when he felt his lover’s hand on his back, the heat of Pike’s hand seemed to go right to his crotch   
“You’re supposed to relax in a bath”  
“I am relaxed”  
“You jumped”  
“Because I wasn’t expecting it”  
“Because you’re not relaxed”  
“I’m plenty relaxed”  
“Mhmm... I call bullshit”  
“Fine, I’m horny”  
Pike laughed at him, his hand sliding up Keith’s right shoulder and over to his chest as Pike rested his chin on Keith’s left shoulder  
“If you want to take things into your own hands, I won’t stop you. But, if you hold out until after dinner, until we’re in bed, I’ll ride your dick like we aren’t going to be walking all day tomorrow”  
Keith groaned in frustration. His dick wasn’t wired to simply obey, it had a mind of its own and was aching to spend itself in Pike until he was dripping wet and babbling Keith’s name in pleasure induced delirium. Pike kissed his neck, Keith sure he was smirking   
“Good boy. Now stay still and let me take care of you”

Massaging as he washed Keith’s body, Keith felt bonelessly relaxed as Pike washed the last of the suds from his hair. They’d stayed in the bath so long that the others had to have been long finished their dinner, and probably gotten the completely wrong idea of what had kept them. Pike had purred was he’d washed Keith’s hair, his fingers untangling the ratted knots that’d formed from Keith’s neglect. Peppering kisses to his forehead, he felt pampered to the point he didn’t know if he’d be able to climb out the bath. To Keith, this all came under courting. Anything physical they gifted each other would only last the length of the time in game, things like this and the picnic were precious memories made together, that’s hopefully last once they woke. His omega was kind and attentive, he fought against his depression and anxiety, and shone with strength as he did. Lance’s mental health had obviously been troubling him for so long that he didn’t know how to cope, yet he’d taken so many steps forward in game that Keith felt fiercely proud of his omega  
“All done. What do you say we get out of the bath now?”  
Keith’s lips turned down  
“What about you?”  
Pike had given himself a wash over without the care and attention he deserved. Smiling at him, his boyfriend shook his head  
“I’m fine. Tonight was about you. I wanted to make you feel happy”  
“I am happy. You deserve to be pampered too”  
“I feel good taking care of you. I’m plenty relaxed”  
“You deserve to be pampered too”  
“The fact that you think that is more than enough for me. Besides, we’ve taken so long the others probably really do think we’ve been having sex”  
“It’s not like they can complain if we did. None of them were there to hear it”  
“Mmm... I’d rather not start a fight tonight... I still... I still have to talk to Block tonight, as it is”  
“I’ll be there with you”  
“I know you will. Come on, we have to eat and try to have an early night”

Seeing Pike had washed his body, Keith dried his boyfriend down, resisting the urge to kiss every inch of the skin beneath him. He knew this was the rush that came with a new relationship, that it’d fade into familiar touches without the frenzy. Adam and Shiro had been the same, before settling into something comfortable. With Pike he’d be moving into courting Lance, he and Lance would be falling over each As they fell for other in reality once they’d made it through Lance’s heat. He wished the game would let them teleport to the castle, it’d make the whole journey that much faster. He was done with travelling, and done with Lance suffering. Shy over his body, Keith had wrapped Pike up in both towels, taking his boyfriend’s hand before guiding him through the temple to make sure no one saw Pike until he was dressed again. Pike continually purring as they walked, head reared against Keith’s shoulder, something nuzzling his cheek against his arm when he felt like it.

When they got back to their room, both of them dressed loosely. Pike needed to feel comfortable when he talked to Block. Keith wanted to be able to strip as fast he could once they returned to their room. It was a win-win situation both ways. His lover adorable with his bare feet and curved belly, as he waited patiently for Keith to hang their towels up two slightly protruding natural juts in the stone wall. Coming back to Pike, Keith slipped his arm around his waist, nuzzling into his damp hair as he did  
“Ready to go?”  
“If you mean “Am I ready to face Block?”? That would be a no”  
“I thought as much. He’s not going to be mad, maybe confused, but I doubt he’ll be mad”  
“I’m nervous I’m going to say the wrong thing”  
“You just have to squeeze my hand if it gets too much. Anything you can’t explain, I’ll explain for you. You’re really brave, you know that, right?”  
“I’m so big and brave I want to drag you back to bed then sneak away with you before the party gets up and I have to face them”  
“Then you’d feel guilty. You don’t want to feel like you do, that’s why we need to talk about it”  
“Sometimes I’m still shocked by your level of maturity”  
Keith playfully bumped Pike with his hip  
“I am too. Look at me go, I’m doing all this adulting”  
“You should get a medal for all your hard work”  
“Damn right. You know, it’s not hard being with you. You know that right. Sometimes it really sucks that I can’t make you feel better, but it feels kind of natural being around you”  
“You’re not so bad yourself, Dorkstorm”  
Keith rolled his eyes at his new nickname, he hoped it wouldn’t stick, at least not in earshot of the others. Pidge would have a field day with it  
“Whatever you say, Poke”

Their dinner was left for them, the others still in the dining room when they finally entered. Pike’s hand had found his, his boyfriend squeezing as they entered the space. Squeezing gently back, Keith hoped Pike understood that he knew how hard this was going to be for him  
“You two took your time”  
Pidge couldn’t let their lateness pass without some dig  
“Pike washed my hair. He got all the knots out, so get your mind out the gutter”  
“Mhmm... we all know what happens when we leave the two of you unsupervised. We thought we’d talk about leaving, unless you two want to talk after dinner”  
Pike immediately froze, Keith clearing his throat   
“Actually, we kind of hoped we could talk to Block. If you guys don’t mind, that is?”  
Allura and Pidge trades glances, getting why they needed to talk pretty quickly. Allura smiles sweetly  
“We don’t mind. We can start packing, then discuss our plans over breakfast. That was you can have a nice long conversation and get things worked out”  
“Thanks, Vala. It shouldn’t go too badly, right babe?”  
Pike nodded, his anxieties were definitely starting up again. His boyfriends tail coming to rest against his back as if trying to hang onto him   
“Excellent. Now you three take your time. Block, if you want to swing by after we can help you pack”  
Hunk seemed as nervous as Pike over this talking thing. Keith had the feeling Block thought himself in trouble or something along those lines  
“Yeah, sure. That’ll be a great help. Thanks”

Hunk fidgeted so much as they are that Pike tried to get out of finishing off his dinner. With some “gentle” silent persuasion, his lover finished off three quarters before Keith let him off, Hunk taking their dishes from them as they both moved from the tiny wooden chairs, made for walking sausages rather than humans, to the floor to wait as Hunk cleaned up the dishes  
“D-did you want to talk here?”  
Keith cast his gaze to Pike, who was playing with the hem of his shirt  
“We can, or we can go back to our room”  
“Here’s fine”  
Hunk was on edge due to nerves, not the best way to start a conversation   
“Block, before we begin, you need to know that we’re not ganging up on you. Pike can’t always talk straight thanks to everything going on here. I know you noticed this earlier. The game punishes him over certain things. We were getting pretty good at avoiding the triggers, but the powers that be changed the rules again”

Keith gave Pike an encouraging smile, that Pike didn’t return. Lance had loved Hunk as if he’d been his brother from the moment they met, making this conversation all that much harder than the others.

Hunk placed the dishes down, leaning against the bench heavily, shoulders bunched as he started tapping the toe of his right boot against the wall. Keith had never seen him like this. He’d always been such a level packmate, other than when they’d first met Shay. Hunk could be counted on to bring a cool and rational mind to any discussion. He could also be counted on when it came to warm hugs and comfort food. His gentle nature much closer to what one expected from a beta, or beta-omega, not a beta-alpha. Had they been in his own reality, he might have been on edge with the expectation Hunk was going to “alpha out” on then. Fuck. He hadn’t considered that. Hunk was without his alpha. He was without the constant little voice in the back of his mind. His pack wasn’t a pack here, their dynamics stripped away from them. Hunk not only had to cope with the game, Lance’s mental break down and drop, the loss of his best friend, said best friend now being courted, and coming into this world to think Lance was dying, he also had to cope without his alpha. Everyone else had had longer to adjust... Fuck, he still hadn’t asked Shiro how he was fairing without his alpha. He was doing what the team had done to Lance, to his team. He was hyper focused on his boyfriend that he hadn’t made the time to check in, like really check in, with each of them to make sure they were all coping. Sure, they talked, they went about trying to live their lives the best they could in the circumstances, but he needed to make himself more available to everyone. Hopefully as they travelled tomorrow he’d be able to check in... as long as the game didn’t decide that they needed to be chased, or attacked, by some hulking beast.

“Block?”  
Asking his name, Keith tried to keep his tone level  
“Sorry, man. I just needed a moment”  
“I know it’s a lot. You’re here now without your other half. There’s all these things happening and suddenly you’re missing something you’ve had all your life. We’ve had longer to adjust than you...”  
“It’s not that”  
Hunk cut him off. Pushing off the bench, he turned before leaning back against it  
“I don’t understand how we got where we are. Why did this have to happen? I don’t understand why. I thought we were all good, man”  
Pike hung his head. Everyone had thought that  
“I know you got the basic low down, and that the others talked to you...”  
“I just... I don’t understand. We were like brothers, then this happened, and I’m the last person you call on. I thought we were tight. Best buds until the end. Now you’re sick, nearly dead, and I wake up here to find you’re madly in love with Keith, when you spent movements moping over Allura”

Pike covered his ears as he whined at the use of their real names  
“Block, you need to remember to use our names here. He gets sick if you don’t. The game physically punishes him for it”  
“I don’t mean to. Pike, why? Why couldn’t you rely on me?”  
“Because you weren’t there. You weren’t. I asked so many times if we could hang out, but you were always busy. You’d say “can we talk later”, or “not now, I’m...”, or remind me how much stupider I am than Meklavar. The pair of you had so much fun laughing at me when I had my heart kicked to the curb by Vala. I always knew she was out of my league... because I’m a twisted and disgusting freak...”  
Keith tugged Pike’s hand away from his ear, forcing him to hold his hand   
“Babe, take a breath”  
“We weren’t trying to make you feel that way”  
“But that’s just it. I was always too loud, or in the way... None of you... cared when I died”  
“You didn’t tell us”  
“It hardly mattered...”  
Keith squeezed Pike’s hand, Pike was seconds away from tears. Hunk already had tears in his eyes  
“Pike, it matters. It’s always mattered. You’ve always mattered. You won’t remember this, but when Block came, you confessed a few things. That you missed him. That you wanted him to help you. You wanted him back. You’ve been pushing all your own issues down for so long you don’t think you deserve to be heard. You’re scared to talk up now because you think you’re not going to be listened to. The pack fell apart, and that wasn’t your fault. You were scared and falling apart on your own, you tried to be loud and everything for everyone else, while all you wanted was for one person to hear your silent screams. You wanted one person to take that initiative and ask you directly if you were okay. You wanted Block to notice you because you missed being friends with him. You wanted me to notice you because you’ve always had my back... and I should have had yours. Block’s listening now. Remember what I said, I’m here with you. It doesn’t matter if your sentences are changed by the game, I’m here to help you say what you need to say, okay?”  
Pike sniffled, leaning into Keith. Keith automatically pulling him into a slightly awkward hug  
“I just wanted to be good at something like everyone else. I’m sorry... I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough. I should... I should have been stronger a little longer”  
“You’ve been too strong for too long. Block, do you have any questions?”

Hunk took a moment, then nodded. His body language was fidgety, as if he wanted to hug Pike but was afraid of the rejection   
“What happened to us? I didn’t... I didn’t know I’d hurt you. Why was I the last one here?”  
If it was obvious to Keith, then he kind of thought it should be obvious to Hunk too  
“Because you were his best friend. He trusted you more than the rest of us, and trusted in you. He didn’t want to be jealous, and when he found he was, he only ended up being angry and hateful towards himself. You should know, I’m serious about him. I’ve made my intention to court him clear... It’s not out of pity, or sympathy, or desperation. I never should have said I didn’t want to spend an eternity with him to cover up my feelings. Vala admitted she hadn’t told anyone about his death, allowing Pike to come to terms with it. Gyro wound up here because Pike knew I’d worry about him. We all messed up here. So now we’re all coming together as a team. He didn’t want to hurt you, or make you feel guilty, so he didn’t tell anyone what he was going through. To end this game we need to get the pearl he carries to the castle in the mountains. That’s our focus”  
Pike nodded against him, the fellinwere smooshed was close to Keith as he could be without being in Keith’s lap  
“I’m sorry, Block... I’m so sorry... I just wanted my friend... I didn’t mean to annoy you. I didn’t mean to upset you or bring you down. I thought we’d be best friends forever... and I’m sorry... about all the times I got in the way trying to help... and that I’m not as smart as everyone else... I didn’t want... to add to everyone's stress”

Keith and Pike found themselves crushed as Block dived in for that hug. Pike hadn’t exactly said much of anything, but he hadn’t lost his cool to anger either  
“Man, you’re the best friend a guy could ask for. I got so caught up in everything going on that I didn’t realise you were left out. I didn’t mean to hurt you... you... you’re my best bud. Who else would taste test my cooking for me? Who else sends me to bed when I’m baking too much because I’m stressing? Who else encourages me to make upgrades to Yellow like you do? Who else listened when I was homesick? You’re loud and annoying, and you a horrible flirt, but those are things I wouldn’t change... You’re my best friend, Pike. I’m sorry...”  
Pike let out a wail, soon he and Hunk were incoherent as they cried it out. Keith let them go until it was obvious they weren’t about to let up on the tears. Carefully prying Hunk off his boyfriend, Keith then patted Hunk’s shoulder  
“I think for tonight that’s enough. His anxiety is unpredictable. Things might be a bit weird, but we’re a team and we’ll get through this together”  
Hunk wiped at his eyes  
“Oh, man. When did you get so wise?”  
Keith smiled fondly at his lover  
“When my stupid arse realised how much I loved him. I love him. We’ve all still got a lot we need to talk about, and we will. We’re all still going to make mistakes, and we’re all probably going to end up being mad at each other again, but I’ve promised Pike I will stay with him until the end”  
Pike rubbed at his eyes, still seeking comfort from Keith beside him  
“I don’t want to be angry anymore. I don’t want it to keep hurting... but, Dark means the world to me... He’s... sometimes a bit protective... and... I... all I wanted was one last adventure together... you shouldn’t be stuck here because of me... I’m so sorry...”  
“No, I’m sorry. I really messed this up. When I came here, Dark scared the heck out of me. He was pressing on your chest, yelling that you wouldn’t wake up... I’m still scared about what this means. I mean, are you even okay? You look...”  
“I look pregnant... it’s a long story involving an evil queen and a magical pearl... I’m not okay, but thanks to Dark I’m learning to be”  
“Is it okay if we’re still friends? I wouldn’t want to be my friend if I’d been...”  
Pike cut Hunk off   
“I want to learn to be friend again... it might... take a little bit”  
“No, that’s cool, man. We’ll work it out. I’ll let you two go... and go see P-Meklavar and Vala. We’ve made something for you, but I guess you’ll have to wait until tomorrow now. Um... yeah, I’ll see you guys tomorrow”

Saying goodbye to Hunk, Pike nuzzled into keith. Kissing his hair, Keith waited for Pike to get his thoughts together  
“Dark?”  
“Yeah, babe?”  
“Can we go to bed now?”  
“Sure thing. Want me to carry you?”  
Keith offered half as a joke, Pike sniffling loudly before he nodded  
“Please... I just want to be held by you right now. I don’t want to think anymore, at least not tonight”  
“Sure thing, baby. I’ve got you. I’ve always got you”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just gotta cry it out then pick yourself up 😉


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, sorry! I accidentally started another fic. I like never usually write two at once, so rest assured we’ll get to the end of this one sooner than the other

“You two are dorks. What kind of adventurers walk around wearing flower crowns and holding hands?”  
Flipping Meklavar off, Pike poked his tongue at her. Pidge hadn’t noticed the grass crowns Pike had made them had made the travel from the village of Bi-Bob’s until late in the afternoon of the first day. Three days in on their trekking and the party had only now reached the end of the Quite Plains. The landscape slowly morphing from the muted pinks, to resembling melted Neapolitan ice cream with the browns of the mountains and their snow caps soaring high above. Making for the pass, Pidge had made mention how unfair it was they’d gotten to see the Quite Plains, as Allura had wanted, while she was forced to miss out on seeing the Green Mines up close, despite the fact it’d been Meklavar and Block who’s insisted they’d be going around the mines as it was. The mines sounded like a big fat nope to Keith, and too much hassle now they knew they’d able to get the pass then onto the mountain range.

“I could perhaps make you one? You could hang it off one those horns on your helmet”  
Pike laughed as Pidge wrinkled her nose at Allura  
“Noooo. Vala, you’re being infected by the idiocy! You must remain strong!”  
“I don’t know. They seem pretty happy...”  
Pidge turned to Block, who shrugged. With a dramatic sigh, she put her hands on her hips  
“I’m plenty happy without one. What kind of self respecting dwarf wears one of those?”  
“What kind of self respecting dwarf if small enough to lift one handed?”  
Joining, Shiro struggled to lift Pidge by the back of her armour one handed. He barely got her a few inches high, yet it was plenty enough to prove his point   
“Nooo. Not you, too!”  
Shiro set her back on her feet  
“The opportunity was too good to let pass”  
“I hate all of you. This is your fault, Dorkstorm”

Pike howled with laughter, Keith pulled into him as his boyfriend’s hands went to support his belly. Glaring at Pidge, he couldn’t come up with a good retort involving “Meklavar” as a name, because, honestly, what kind of a name was that?  
“It’s better than, Meklavar...”  
His lameness showed in his retort. Cheeks burning, as Pike’s laughter finally started to settle   
“Dork and Puke. Our poster couple. Saviours of the ways of the dork”  
Hunk snickered at Pidge’s comment, making himself a target  
“Better than Bleeeeee-ck”  
Pike twisted Block’s name to make it sound as if he’d stepped in something revolting, Pidge losing her shit laughing   
“If you rearrange the letters in Gyro’s name, you get Orgy”  
Shiro promptly smacked Pidge upside the back of the head, before pulling her into a head lock  
“Excuse me, I’ll have to you know I’m a Paladin of Light”  
“Can you be a nympho and a Paladin?”  
“Only on Friday’s”

Pike started laughing again as Pidge’s face morphed with disgust. Both girls far better at picking character names than everyone else. Vala could only be turned to Lava. Shiro had said when everyone else had been blasted to the snow field he’d been blasted to the top of a volcano, and Keith definitely wasn’t going to think about how badly that could have gone. Keith groaned, unfortunately remembering more than once he’d been kept up late thanks to Shiro and Adam   
“You’re my brother, why must you do this to me?”  
“Meklavar started it”  
“You’re supposed to be the adult and finish it”  
“Oh, sure. Make the man with one arm do all the hard work”  
His brother was a total shit  
“Only on every day that ends with “Y””  
Pidge laughed again  
“Oh, Dork. I think we’ve broken your brain. That was lamer than before. I don’t know what Pike sees in you”  
“I don’t know either, it’s usually in him”  
Allura giggled, Pidge screamed, Hunk blushed, Shiro snorted, and Pike laughed so hard that he started coughing. Pidge had brought that one on herself. Retrieving the water skin, Keith rubbed Pike’s back until his coughing subsided enough to take a drink  
“Well done, you nearly killed your boyfriend off with your lameness”  
“I’m fine... air went down the wrong way...”  
Pidge snickered  
“I like how he doesn’t deny you’re lame”  
Pike gulped down two large mouthfuls of water, wiping his mouth with his hand as he handed the water skin back  
“That’s because he is lame. The softest, lamest, cuddliest, sweetest, idiot of a boyfriend that anyone could ever want”  
“Thanks, babe. I love you, too”  
Pike shot him finger guns as Keith tied the water skin to the fur around his hips  
“And now they’re being gross. I’m too young for this”  
“Are you too young, or is it because you’re tiny?”  
Pidge pretended to rage, walking over to Pike and very lightly kicking him in the shin  
“I’m perfectly sized for a dwarf”  
“You’re perfectly sized for Gyro to pick up one handed too”  
“Block, can you cast silence on these three pleeeease!? They’re as bad as each other”  
Turning to Pidge with a strained “neutral” expression, Hunk’s tone was near on emotionless  
“I could, but I don’t see what’s in it for me”  
Pidge clutched her chest  
“You wound me, Block. You wound me”  
“Wounding you would be shooting you with a fireball to the leg. You’re not wounded”  
“That’s it!”  
“Running” up behind Hunk, Pidge jumped on his back, Hunk nearly falling over as she did  
“For that, you have to carry me until we make camp!”  
Hunk spluttered  
“What? No. It’s hard enough carrying myself”  
“Puh-lease. Dork carries Pike around all the time like it’s nothing, and Pike had to weight more than I do!”  
“I don’t know about that. Ow!”  
Pidge conked Hunk on the head with the butt of her axe  
“What was that?”  
“Nothing. I said nothing”  
“Smart answer. Vala, how much longer do we have to keep walking for? My feet are killing me”  
Allura giggled  
“It wouldn’t be fair to make Block walk too far”  
Shiro shook his head in disagreement   
“I don’t know. It’s good strength training”  
Turning to look to Pike with pleading eyes, Hunk begged  
“Pike, buddy. Please, you have to help me”  
“Oh, no you don’t. Don’t go dragging him into this!”

Keith wasn’t sure how Pike would take the shenanigans of the group, his boyfriend took a measured breath before releasing it slowly  
“Meklavar is kind of right... you did call her fat”  
Hunk’s expression was priceless as he blushed  
“I didn’t call her fat. It’s all this armour. She weighs a ton”  
“See, you called me fat again! Pike is bigger than me, therefore he has to weigh more”  
“Look out, man. Now she’s calling you fat”  
Keith knew to pull Pike close to him before Pike’s expression even started to fall  
“She’s just jealous, babe. She wishes she had a cool crown like ours”  
“She still called me fat”  
“You’re not fat. I wouldn’t care if you were, I’d love you all the same. Want me to carry you?”  
Pidge had stepped on Pike’s buttons, Keith unknowingly making it worse with his offer  
“I don’t know. I think I’m too fat. I’ll be fine walking”  
Shit. Pike sounded like he was starting to shut down. His voice wobbled as his shoulders shrunk  
“You’re not fat. You’re carrying the pearl and that’s all”  
“It’s fine, Dark”  
Keith shot Pidge a glare. Pike’s use of his name bringing the mood down, as Pike clearly clammed up. Awkwardly, and more than a little forced, Shiro laughed  
“It’s great how good you two are getting along these days. Remember the good old days when they couldn’t stand each other? They grow up too fast”  
Pidge nodded  
“Who would have thought these two would be the first to get their acts together? They’re so in love it’s gross”  
“I think it’s kind of nice”  
Hunk offered Pike a shy smile, Pike still busy trying to hide from their friends. Kissing Pike’s temple, Keith tried to nuzzle Pike into raising his face for a proper kiss  
“It is kind of nice. Actually, it’s really nice being with him”  
Pidge wrinkled up her nose   
“Ewww... now you’re being gross. Vala, they’re being gross”

Allura hummed, she no longer seemed to be smiling and laughing with the rest of them. If she was regretting choosing Lotor of Lance, then that was her tough luck. That wasn’t to say he approved of Lotor’s actions, but she had hurt Lance by kicking his heart to the curb. She’d missed her chance with an amazing man that was far out of her league, despite what Lance thought of himself  
“Yes, well, enough about that. Perhaps we could start guessing what this castle will look like?”  
Pidge clicked her fingers  
“You know, I bet it’ll be haunted. With vampires and spiders the size of Gyro!”  
Hunk shuddered  
“Oh, man! Why’d you have to say that?!”  
Pidge cackled  
“What’s the matter, Block? You scared somethings going to sneak up and suck your blood!”  
Pidge made to bite Hunk’s neck, Hunk trying to escape her as they both started laughing  
“I wouldn’t mind if it was something medieval. With a draw bridge and turrets”  
Keith rolled his eyes  
“Trust the Paladin to want a real proper castle. What do you think, babe?”  
“Um... I don’t think I want to think about it”  
“Fair enough. I know I don’t expect it to be something normal”  
Pidge stopped trying to attack Hunk in favour blowing a raspberry in Keith’s direction   
“Dark, that’s not playing along! Don’t you want to see vampires?”  
“Pike and I had enough of all that down in the tombs. You know what would be great, somewhere that didn’t have walking skeletons or crazy villagers, and definitely no Weabloanian worms allowed”  
“Weablo-... what?”  
Allura sighed, patting Hunk’s arm  
“Sometimes it’s better not to ask. I hope it’s not a stronghold for the Evil Queen”  
Pidge leaned back, Hunk hiking her up as she did  
“I hope there aren’t any more Bi-Bohs. Those little sausages are mean”  
“You don’t like them because you didn’t like your statue...”

Keith slowly tuned his friends out, Pike didn’t want to be part of the conversation, so he decided he was going to stay out of it too. His nerves over the castle had to be as bad as Pike’s. Pike might need to face whatever was waiting for him, but as his boyfriend, Keith was already worrying himself sick with the thought of what was to come. Ryndery seemed certain Pike wouldn’t come out of things alive... How was he supposed to survive a world and a life without his best friend?

*  
“Pike?”  
Woken from his sleep, Keith found the source was the fact he was freezing. A quick feel around confirmed the fact he was frozen due to the fact his boyfriend had left his side while he’d slept. Exhausted from walking pretty much sun up until sun down for the last 3 days, Keith’s body felt like lead as he climbed off the dew damp blankets he and Pike had been using as their bedding  
“Pike?”  
Calling his name softly, so as to not wake the others, their campfire still burned brightly thanks to Hunk’s magic with no one left on guard for the night. The light casting shadows over the sleeping faces of their friend. Pike had perked back up over dinner, joining in on the conversation as he pushed his meal around his plate. Shivering in the cold, Keith crossed his arms, tucking his hands under his armpits for warmth. The night was far too cold for wander, stepping off the blankets the ground beneath his bare feet was a slimy kind of wet, Keith wrinkling his nose. Great... Just quiznakking great... Where the quiznak was his boyfriend?  
“Pike!”

“Dark?”  
Pidge mumbled his name as she propped herself up, before rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Maybe that last call had been a little loud   
“Go back to sleep, Pidge”  
“Ngh... what are you doing awake?”  
Keith sighed, he might as well be honest with her  
“Pike’s wandered off sometime while we were sleeping”  
Pidge took a moment to catch up, drawing her brow as she did  
“He... what?”  
“I woke up and he was gone. He didn’t even straighten up the blankets”  
“Oh shit...”  
Pretty much. The night was so cold that Pike could have left their “bed” hours ago, or sometime within the last 5 minutes  
“... We should wake Hunk up”  
“Why? He might be around here...”  
If Pike needed some time to de-stress, then Keith didn’t want to alert everyone and make his boyfriend feel ashamed  
“Hunk can cast a tracking spell. If he’s still around here you can follow the track right to him, if it leads away from camp, then we’ll come with you. We can assess the situation and if he’s okay, we’ll come back here...”  
Pidge’s logic was sound, and it took into account Pike might simply be having a moment to himself, without Keith having to prompt her over it. He didn’t like waking Hunk, but the sooner they found Pike, the sooner they could all go back to bed  
“I’ll put my boots on, you wake Hunk up”  
“Okay”

There was sand in Keith’s boots and he didn’t like it. The grains were rubbing between his skin and the leather. Part of their “Godly” treatment, his boots had been mended by the Bi-Boh village, returned when they were gifted garments by the villagers, though they seemed to prefer when they wore their travelling garb. Lance had ditched his one piece in favour of his tunic and pants which fitted better around his belly. Leaving his swords behind, the Barbarian didn’t want to appear a threat in case Pike wasn’t conscious of his actions. Waving his staff, Hunk then brought the base down causing a wave of yellow light, slowly the wave faded away to leave a set of glowing yellow footprints that Keith had to admit looked cool. Jumping up and down in the spot, Pidge cheered in a whispered yell   
“That’s so cool! I knew you could do it! Let’s go find him!”  
“I don’t know if this is a good idea. Maybe we should tell the others...”  
“Pike probably needed a break from Keith cuddling him. I’m sure he couldn’t have gone too far. We’ll go make sure he’s alright, then come right back”  
“Fine, but if we die, I’m coming back to take all your gold”  
Pidge shrugged  
“That’s fair. But if you die, I get your staff”  
“Deal”

Keith’s heart hadn’t stopped racing since discovering Pike had gone missing. His footprints lighting up for a few metres ahead at a time. Far too soon was the light of the campfire gone, the wide open plain seemed to swallow it whole before Keith knew what to do with himself. Casting an illumination spell, Hunk was far more handy than Block had been  
“Wow. He’s walked really far. We’re going the right way, right? Like, we’re not tracing his tracks back towards the village from today?”  
Pidge asked the question Keith was too afraid to, Hunk nodded quickly as they continued walking   
“We’re tracing the right tracks. His footprints would be point the other way if we were tracing today’s”  
“He’s pretty fast... do you think he’s okay?”  
“We can see from his tracks that he’s been walking. If he was running they’d be further apart and deeper”  
“I didn’t think of that. That’s why you’re the smart one in the group. What happened to your tracking skill, Keith?”  
Keith bit down the sudden urge to snap  
“I’m still adjusting to magic. Block was a great example of being useless”  
“He shouldn’t have been... I mean... I put a lot of time into designing him”  
“Block was a dick. But it’s okay, because you’re here now and you’re not him”  
Hunk seemed saddened over his in game character not being very well liked or appreciated. Keith making the effort to recognise that Hunk would be stressing over Lance, and riddled with anxiety over their current situation. They were cold, walking through what felt like a minefield, with a friend missing   
“Pidge is right, Block wasn’t very good. But you have to remember, the game was the one controlling him. It made him the way he was, not you, and not Lance. It’s twisted everything in his head”  
“See, even Keith gets it. It would have been cool if we all could have played like this without the game being corrupt. Can you imagine the adventure we could have had?”  
“Shiro would have found a way to make us train...”  
If Kuron had gotten his hands on the game and Lance, the consequences could have been far worse. Hunk shuddered, pulling the blanket over his shoulders tighter   
“Coran, more like it. Him and his training. Can you imagine? Man, I’m getting anxiety thinking about it”  
“I don’t care if the board is some ancient artifact, when we get out of here, I’m going to blow it up. We’ll have Green drop it in the middle of clear space, then let loose on it”

Keith felt a warmth in his chest that Pidge would want the same thing for the game that he did. Pidge who’d attempt to salvage and rebuild everything and anything tech based, had no love in her heart for the game. He had the best pack and best packmates... most of the time  
“You’ll have to get in line, Lance and I already have first dibs”  
Pidge snorted  
“My plan was that we all fire on the game at once. I think we all have big issues with Lance’s treatment in game”  
“And outside of the game... does he still hate us?”  
Pidge elbowed Hunk in the side   
“He doesn’t hate us. We really let him down, but because he’s Lance, he’s way too good to us. We messed up and let him down so badly I wouldn’t blame him if he did hate us, but he doesn’t. He just needs a bit of time. Right, Keith?”  
Pidge was amazing. Keith making her squeak as he moved to throw his arms around her  
“He doesn’t hate you guys at all. He was terrified of hurting you by telling you how much he was hurting. All he’s wanted is to be friends again, but he’s got really bad anxiety. Especially after dying. He’s scared of the dark because he says it reminds of how he felt as he died”  
“But...”  
Hunk started then stopped, Keith reaching out to pull him into the group hug  
“But nothing. He’s not trying to be weird. He still cares about both of you. He wants to be friends with you, Hunk, and with you Pidgeon”  
“See, Hunk. I told you so. Keith’s always with him, so he’d know how Lance feels”  
“But we were mean to him”  
“And we’ve apologised. Now we’re working on things. First thing first is finding him. I didn’t know he was scared of the dark, but I can see why... I’m still mad we didn’t know he’d died”  
Keith sighed  
“I’m sure I didn’t help with that”  
“You were pretty possessive of the guy you kept calling your “friend”“  
“He was... My alpha worked out what he meant to me before my head caught up”  
Pidge cackled, Hunk even managed a small laugh  
“That’s so like you! You’re so clueless it puts all alphas to shame”  
“I’m not that bad... I mean... he was... just a friend... and then I kind of... Why am I explaining this?”  
Keith flushed red, not sure why he was spluttering   
“Because you loooove him!”  
“Oh, shut up”  
“And you want to hug hiiiim”  
“Pidge!”  
“And you wanna...”  
Keith clamped his hand over Pidge’s mouth, anything to stop her teasing   
“Don’t make me tell you about our sex life”  
Slowly removing his hand, Pidge had her face scrunched up in disgust  
“Ewww. I don’t want to think about what you two get up to and your ugly junk. Hunk, tell Keith he’s not allowed to talk about it”  
Hunk would have rather not been nominated   
“Uh, Keith, man, she has a point”  
“As if I’d really tell you about being with my mate... my idiot that’s gone and wandered off on his own... I’m not saying I’m going to kill him, but he better have a damn good reason for this”  
“Look at him, Hunk. He’d all grown up... Shiro was right, they grow up too fast”  
Keith flipped Pidge off, Pidge dancing away before as if he’d gone to hit her. Things weren’t perfect, but this was definitely a step in the right direction for all of them


	26. Chapter 26

Sleepwalking. Pike was sleep walking. Eyes wide open, skin cold as ice to the touch, barefoot and sleepwalking. Pidge and Hunk had hung back as Keith approached his boyfriend, he’d tried calling out to him thinking Pike was ignoring him when he failed to stop and turn around. He didn’t want to shock Pike into waking by grabbing hold of him, so approached the situation by standing in front of him and letting Pike walk right into his waiting arms. The moment Pike bumped into him, his lover’s legs gave out, Pike slumping against him as the others watched on. Still seemingly asleep, Keith manhandled him up into his hold, Pike’s head lolling back as his eyes slid closed. Keith had to admit that seeing Pike so vacant wasn’t good for his heart. Those big blue eyes seemed empty as they stared straight ahead without seeing a thing. Carrying Pike over to Pidge and Hunk, Hunk automatically moved the blanket around Keith’s shoulders to cover what he could of Pike  
“Is he sleeping?”  
“Sleepwalking from the looks of it”  
“It wasn’t enough that Allura and Shiro had us walking all damn day, now he’s gotta walk off in the middle of the night too”  
Pidge was right, he’d failed as boyfriend in keeping Pike safe  
“It’s my fault. I was too lenient in not having someone stay up to keep watch”  
Hunk patted down some imaginary kink in the blanket, offering him a sad smile as he gazed at his sleeping friend  
“It’s not your fault, bud. We didn’t know he was going to wander off like this”  
“Still...”  
“Keith, Hunk’s right and you know it. We’re just lucky he didn’t get himself into any trouble while sleep walking. I have to say, he did kind of an impressive job getting this far”  
Keith wasn’t sure impressive was the right word. Fortunately most of the Quite Plains was flat, without many obstacles for Pike to trip or hurt himself on  
“We should head back. He’s freezing”  
Pidge stared at Pike a moment longer  
“Are you going to tell him?”  
“Tell him what?”  
“That he was sleep walking?”  
Pike would worry. He’d blame himself and be angry over having caused a scene... yet... Pike had been so honest with him that the idea of keeping secrets rubbed him the wrong way  
“Not tonight. Hopefully we can make it back in time with causing a fuss, and he’ll sleep through until morning”  
That wasn’t a yes, and it wasn’t a no. It was a maybe later and they all knew that  
“Alright. Ugh... why’d we have to walk so far? And why did I have to be a dwarf, we’ve only got little legs”  
That was Pidge’s way of dealing with the fact she knew full well they’d been lucky. She’d follow Keith’s lead and let him be the one to talk to Pike about it when he was ready too  
“You might have little legs, but Keith’s the one who’s gotta carry Pike all the way back”  
“I don’t mind”  
The response was automatic. Keith really didn’t mind. Carrying Pike meant knowing he was safe. He’d have been a raging mess if his alpha was there to find their omega missing from his designated spot at their side  
“Let me know if you need a break. I’ll take him if he gets too heavy”  
“Yeah, thanks, man”  
That was a lie. Keith wasn’t about to hand Pike over to anyone when he was in such a vulnerable state... or at the best of times really. 

Having make the long walk back to camp, Allura and Shiro were awake, waiting for the four of them to return. They’d chatted off and on as they’d followed Hunk’s tracing spell back to the camp, the last hour spent by all of them trying not to fall asleep on their feet. Pike had slept the whole way, Keith felt there should be some kind of limit to how vulnerable once person could be. Ignoring their worried stares, Keith laid Pike down in their bed, covering him up with their blankets and ensuring he was settled before walking over to sit by the camp fire where Hunk and Pidge had already huddled next to each other. Feeling Shiro’s eyes on him, Keith’s mouth did that thing where it moved on it’s own  
“Pike went sleepwalking”  
“I didn’t say a word”  
Shiro didn’t have to  
“No, you were watching me, waiting for me to say something instead. Hunk used a tracking spell and we found him still asleep”  
“Is he alright? He must have been freezing”  
Keith nodded at Allura’s questioning  
“Yeah. He passed out when he walked into me. Slept the whole way back to camp too”  
“Is that normal?”  
Keith could only shrug. Who could call any of this normal?  
“I don’t remember Lance sleepwalking before. He didn’t at the Garrison, I would have heard him leaving if he had. Pidge?”  
Pidge shook her head at Hunk  
“Not that I know. Sometimes on the castle he looked asleep on his feet, but I’ve never seen him actually sleep walking before”

A few long moments of silence passed between the group, Shiro clearing his throat  
“Should we talk about this? We’re lucky he wasn’t injured when he walked off”  
Keith groaned as he stretched his aching shoulders  
“We’ve already talked about it. We’re going to take it in shifts to stay up during the night. If he wakes up, or gets up, they’ll wake me up and I’ll make sure he’s alright”  
“Keith...”  
Keith didn’t like Shiro’s tone, he already knew what came next  
“... we understand that you love him, but you’re not alone in wanting to take care of him. Being a carer is hard. You saw what Adam went through”  
“Adam went through all that with you because he loved you. I love Lance. Plus, it’s safer if I’m the one to approach him. He trusts me, and he trusts me to subdue him if he’s out of it enough that he’s a danger”  
“I’m worried that...”  
“You don’t need to worry. We’ve made it this far. His anxieties would only go into overdrive if he thought he was inconveniencing any of you. That’d set back his confidence to start fixing things between all of us. I’m not trying to be mean, or say that none of you care about him. I’m dealing with what happened while I was away, and this isn’t guilt from that. He’s nervous and he’s jumpy, he’s had a couple of anxiety attacks. Plus the game keeps making him put himself down over the slightest thing. When, and if, you guys can help, I know I can ask you. All I can ask you right now is to let me be the one to bring him out of things like panic attacks or this sleep walking thing”

Things fell silent again, Allura breaking it this time  
“I’m worried about him”  
“He knows you are. He knows all of you are. But at the same time, he’s strong. Him being strong for so long is why we’re all here now. I’m going to talk to him about tonight when the time is right. For now I think we should all head to bed and start out later tomorrow than we had planned. He must have walked a couple of kilometres tonight...”  
Shiro raised an eyebrow  
“He got that far”  
When Keith nodded his brother followed up with   
“Shit”  
Pidge giggled, then shuddered, cozying closet to Hunk  
“Watch your language”  
Shiro covered his face with his hand  
“Respect your elders”  
“Sure thing, Old Man”  
“That’s “Mister Old Man”, to you”  
Everyone let out a laugh at Shiro. The mood lightening despite their worries over Lance  
“I think Keith is correct. Once you’ve warmed up, it’s time for bed for all of us”  
Bed sounded great. Anything to get Lance back in his arms again and his feet out his gritty boots  
“I might turn in now. Pike was pretty cold. I don’t want him coming down with something from it”  
“Keith, we all know you just wanna cuddle up with your booooyfriend”  
“I’d rather cuddle up with him than you”  
Pidge faked offence as Keith climbed to his feet. They should have just stayed put out there, then had the others come meet them the following day... other than the fact it was freezing and they’d more than likely have been found frozen to death... Walking. come morning, was going to suck.

*  
The “Quite Plains”, quite sucked. Pike’s sleepwalking had left him sluggish. He’d eaten breakfast, then started yawning, continuing to yawn frequently all the way to lunch time, where he conked out mid-meal. One moment he was sitting up, leaning against Keith, the next he was snoring all within the space of what seemed seconds. With Pike too sleepy for conversation Keith hadn’t told him about the night before. Allura noticing he’d fallen asleep with part of his sandwich still in his hand. Agreeing to spend a few more hours resting, Pidge decided everyone other than Allura and Shiro were entitled to nap, not that Keith did either, on the off chance Pike would wander off again. When it came to waking up Pidge and Hunk, Pidge nearly took Allura’s toes off with her axe, ever the gremlin when woken before it happened naturally. Keith was bullied into letting Hunk carry Pike, as he didn’t have the heart to wake him. Poor Hunk copping unintentional glares that were supposed to be directed at Shiro who’d decided everything. After his and Pidge’s attempt at “Eye Spy” had fizzled out, there hadn’t been much to do other than shoot glares at Shiro for separating him from his boyfriend.

Calling it a night early, Hunk and Pidge tried to create an improvised bath. Pike waking when Hunk set him on his feet, tottering over to wrap his arms around Keith. Keith damn near ended up with his boyfriend on his head when Pidge and Hunk set off one of the small explosive devices they’d created back in the Bi-Boh village. Pike had hissed, jumping up him like Keith was a tree. They ended up falling backwards in a tangle of limbs, Keith landing hard on his arse in the process. Instead of creating an indent in the clay earth, they’d managed to shower everyone in dirt and dust, taking off the top few inches of soil in a circular pattern. Scolded by Shiro for their idiocy, their plans were changed. Shiro being as sick to death of the Quite Plains as the rest of them were, asking Allura to summon a mount for them. They’d held back on her summoning anything due to her low supply of arrows, barely a dozen in her quiver and all somewhat dodgy in their craftsmanship. They’d had to scavenge what they could from the village, Pidge attempting to whittle an arrow before becoming bored and giving up half way through. The arrow she let loose wobbled, the shot far from straight as the summoning portal opened. Pike hissing at the summoned beast, a Chulatt looking mouse that was far smaller than previously summoned versions of Platt. They were lucky to get anything considering the game. Keith climbed up first, seating himself at the back of Chulatt’s back, Hunk “helping” Pike up into Keith’s arms, though Pike was practically up and into his arms unaided within seconds of Keith being settled. That Pike would sleep so long didn’t strike Keith as normal, yet his tongue was held by how soft and clingy Pike was being. Nuzzling into the fellinwere, Pike let out a rumbly purr, rubbing his cheek against the side of Keith’s head affectionately. An unwanted rush of blood to the crotch had Keith feeing awkward, especially considering his crotch would be right up against Pike’s perfect little arse the whole ride on the back of Chulatt. Surely this was punishment of some kind for something Keith didn’t even know he’d done. 

Chulatt wasn’t as fast as “Kosmo” and “Platt”, the mouse timid with his footing as he picked his way through the Quite Plains and into the forest between them and the pass. Pidge turned to blow as raspberry as the pinks of the plains were replaced with the greens and browns of the forest. The sudden change a clash to senses, yet not unwelcomed at all Chulatt continued under Allura’s direction. Not being on foot felt amazing. Sure, Keith was in a hell of his own making with the leather of inner thighs damp from the constant contact against Pike, and sure, Keith was growing more pent up by the second, but they were finally out of that pink hell and into the last forest before they’d make their ascent up the mountain range and over to the castle. The end was finally close enough to almost reach out and grab, Lance would be freed if the game and they’d all go back to where they belonged, where he’d begin courting his lover properly.

With the moon hidden from them by the tree canopy, Keith had no way of telling how long they’d travelled through the forest before Allura finally called it a night. Sliding off the back of Chulatt, Keith helped Pike down. His boyfriend tripping over his own feet before firmly pushing Keith away and walking off without so much as a “thanks” for helping him get down. With a shared look of confusion directed towards him, Keith set off after Pike, letting him get far away from the others before catching him by the arm to bring him to a stop  
“Pike, what’s wrong?”  
“Nothing... nothing. Go back to the others”  
“Can’t do that, babe. Not when you’re not okay. What’s wrong?”  
Pike turned, Keith finding himself pushed back up against the closest tree as his boyfriend smashed his lips into his. The kiss so hungry that it was a bad mix of teeth against teeth. Breaking the kiss, Pike’s lips went to his neck, mouthing and nipping as a leg slid between Keith’s  
“P-Pike...?”  
“I’m so fucking horny... gonna take your dick as you fuck me hard...”  
He was what now? Keith actually jumping when Pike’s hand went to cupping his hunk  
“B-babe?”  
“Fucking need it, been thinking about that dick of yours up my slutty arse... fuck...”  
Again... What? 

Pike abandoned kissing Keith’s neck, Keith finding their positions flipped as Pike rolled them, wrapping his arm around Keith’s neck, Pike’s other hand went to his pants, his boyfriend not caring about who could be watching as he started stripping  
“Babe... maybe this isn’t a good idea...?”  
“I don’t care... I’m going to die if you don’t hurry up”  
Keith was wrong. Grinding up against Pike’s arse hadn’t been hell, this was. Pike was horny as quiznak for him, but all he could do was wonder why  
“Babe, I don’t think you’re thinking straight”  
Pike whined at him, releasing Keith so he had both hands to work off his pants, letting them fall around his ankle before grasping his erection and starting to jerk himself off  
“Fuck... fuck...”  
Closing his eyes, Pike’s free hand hiked up his tunic, bunching the fabric up his arm as he did. Reaching his left breast, Pike let out an obscene moan as he groped himself, head knocking lightly against the tree as he let it loll back  
“Dark... please... you have to touch me... I want you to touch me... I want you to fuck me and make me yours”

Keith’s restraint went out the window as he struggled down his precum damp leathers. Taking Pike by the arse, he lifted his horny lover, Pike so impatient he’d started working himself open with his tail because Keith was taking too long trying to be respectful  
“Shit... I’m gonna come”  
“You’re not allowed to until I tell you, do you understand me?”  
Pike nodded, Keith rewarding him by rutting the leaking tip of his erection against his lover’s busy tail. Pike mewed at the sensation, trying to push down against him  
“I know you want to be a good boy for me, but if you keep pushing me to hurry up, I’m not going to touch you. Stop touching yourself with your tail. Loop your arms over my shoulders and hold on with your legs”  
Pike nodded quickly, doing as he was told. The coolness of the night taking the edge of aching erection as Keith took a deep breath. They had no lube, Pike had been working himself open dry  
“Are you sure you want this? It might hurt”  
“Don’t care... mess me up. I want you to fuck this slutty little hole of mine until I’m leaking. I wanna feel you filling me up...”

It hurt Keith to push in without lube, so it surely had to hurt Pike. Bringing two fingers to Pike’s mouth, he eagerly sucked on them as Keith kept just the tip of his dick breaching his lover. Saliva did fuck all really, but it was better than nothing. Nearly coming from having Pike suck his fingers, his boyfriend started getting whiny when Keith worked his first finger into his velvety heat. He didn’t allow his body to adjust, hips bucking as he let out a long lewd moan. Trying to work up to two fingers took coaxing, Pike wouldn’t stop riding his finger, the second pushed in rather bluntly, Pike coming up his belly and between them unexpectedly  
“Fuuuuck....”  
Keith wasn’t sure what to do now. He wanted Pike, but Pike was... not acting like himself   
“Feel good, baby?”  
His voice wobbled as he tried to play it cool  
“Not enough... need you... need you in me properly... wanna come around your dick”  
“Babe...”  
“Please, I feel like my body is burning up. I need it... I need you... fuck me like this, stand me up and fuck me from behind, I don’t care, I need you in me”

Using Pike’s cum as lube worked better than the spit. Burying himself in Pike, Keith’s hands went from his boyfriend’s arse to his hips  
“Keep your arms around me”  
Fucking Pike on his dick was hot as fuck. Pike vocal, panting hard as he repeated Keith’s name over and over, mixed with begging or to stop. Pent up for so long, Keith came with a growl, forcing Pike to keep riding him through his release and into Pike’s second orgasm. Coming with a strangled whine, Keith gathered his boyfriend up against him as he slid out of Pike’s soaked heat. Nuzzling their foreheads together, Keith’s legs felt like jelly  
“You okay, baby?”  
“Mmm...”  
“That good?”  
“Mhmm... feels so good...”  
Keith agreed wholeheartedly. He’d thought Pike was mad over him doing something, not horny as fuck for him. It stroked his ego  
“We should get cleaned up”  
“Sleepy...”  
Pike had slept so long that he shouldn’t be sleepy, then again, he’d made him come twice. His fellinwere was a blissed out mess   
“Let’s get cleaned up, then you can sleep”  
“Mmm”

Pike couldn’t stand on his own, Keith holding him up against the tree as he used part of Pike’s cloak he’d cut free to make sure his boyfriend was cleaned up. His own orgasm had left him wanting a nap, as if all his energy had been squeezed out by Pike’s amazing arse. When Keith released him to start cleaning himself up, Pike slid down the tree into a squat, eyes already starting to droop. Adorable. His boyfriend was absolutely adorable  
“Babe, you gotta stay awake a little longer”  
Pike grumbled at him, one curled coming up to rub at his eye  
“But I’m sleeeeepy”  
“I know you are, but I still haven’t cleaned myself up”  
“Hurry up... want to cuddle”  
That wasn’t how things worked. They didn’t have water to clean up so things were still sticky despite wiping  
“Real soon, babe. When we get back to the others”  
Pike huffed, before pouting, Keith shaking his head as he finished cleaning himself up. It’d do for now, though later he’d definitely be regretting it.

None of their companions would meet Keith’s eyes as he carried his spoilt boyfriend back to where they’d made camp. Keith could almost feel the embarrassment rolling off of them, Pike did have a habit of being very vocal, so the group had probably heard most of what had happened. Ignoring them, he sat Pike by the fire before letting himself drop down beside him, his boyfriend whining over the few seconds of lost contact, before settling into Keith’s hold. Keith kissing the top of Pike’s head in reassurance that he hadn’t run off and left him, not that he thought he’d get all that far if he tried.

“Soooo, is he alright?”  
Pidge elbowed Shiro, hard enough for Shiro to flinch  
“Don’t ask him that”  
“No one else was saying anything”  
“What happened to “Patience yields focus”? We all would have been happy not to think about that, but noooo”  
Shiro ignored Pidge’s annoyance over overhearing too much   
“That’s why I’m asking if he’s okay? He didn’t seem happy... You didn’t...”  
Keith cast a glare at Shiro   
“If you’re asking if I forced myself on my own boyfriend, you can kindly go f-... jump. He’s fine. Tired, but fine”  
“Shhh... I’m sleeping”  
Keith’s moment of anger at his brother vanished as quickly as it came. Pike diffusing the situation before things were said that couldn’t be taken back  
“Sorry, babe. You have to stay up and eat something, then you can sleep”  
“Too tired to eat...”  
“Must have been all that sex-ercise?”  
Hunk was never supposed to say those words. Keith’s cheeks dusting pink, which only turned to flaming red when Allura followed up with   
“Oh! They were having sex! I thought Pike was crying again”  
Pidge gaped at Allura. Allura beamed at herself for figuring it out. Hunk shifted uncomfortably. Shiro pinched his nose the way he did when he needed moment. Pike simply nuzzled into Keith for more cuddles. Feeling the need to pile it on for no reason known to Keith, Allura went and added  
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Sex is a natural thing. We all knew Keith was already in a sexual relationship with P-...”  
Keith wanted to sink into the ground with Pike and never return. Pidge raised her axe, pointing the blade in Allura’s direction   
“Vala, I will murder you in your sleep if you keep talking about this. Not all humans are, or want to be, as open with their sex lives as these two idiots. So please, stop making me think of my brothers bumping uglies”  
From his hold came Pike’s mumbly voice  
“Felt good”  
Keith wanted to smack Pike for his unneeded contribution. Throwing her hands in the air, Pidge was done  
“That’s it. I’m done. Hunk, magic up a shower so I can wash this conversation out my brain”  
“Humans can do that?”  
Allura sounded doubtful, yet as if she thought there was some remote chance as far fetched as it sounded  
“Not normally, but I’m going to give it my best shot, I’ll use my axe if I have to. Hunk, you’re with me”

*  
Pike slept walked on both the nights they spent within the confines of the forest. Keith catching him within the first few steps on the first night, Shiro waking him on the second. Both following mornings Pike woke as if he hadn’t slept at all, stumbling around yawning until they gave up and called it a night, making very little progress at all. Allura attempted to summon a mount, only the arrow went straight up before falling uselessly like a stick to the forest floor.

Reaching the mountain pass, they came to yet another village. With their track record, Allura, Pidge and Hunk went ahead to scout as Keith set up camp away from the main road. The view was something else. Soaring stone as smooth as marble yet the colour of limestone made up the two carved trees whose branches made the gate to the pass. The town fenced with thick trees forcing travellers through the main gate that served as check point for all those who hoped to pass. With the game against them and the evil Queen to consider, Hunk had cast a disguise spell on all of them, promising he’d done his best, as they all now appeared to be Paladins of the Light. Pidge immediately beginning to preach the Way of Light, Allura in hysterics, joining as Hunk tried to be the adult of the situation, shooing his two companions on towards town.

With nothing to do, once camp was made, Keith was bored. Lance wanted to sleep again, Shiro was off in his own little world, while Keith was left with nothing to do but be patient. Unlike Pike, he couldn’t bed down for a nap, his side and chest claimed by his fellinwere. Staring up at the big blue sky long got boring when there weren’t clouds to watch. He actually found himself wishing he’d been part of Hunk’s team, with Pike of course, because then they’d be able to make new memories and have new experiences, rather than this. He should have asked Hunk to pick up something for his boyfriend, no matter the fact it’d only last as long the game would. Pike deserved pretty things. Lance loved pretty things, or had. His room on Red was too painful to think about. All of Lance’s precious trinkets must have ended up somewhere... that somewhere hopefully not being in the castle as it was destroyed. It was funny how the castle had gotten under his skin. He’d never thought about its destruction, because he’d always taken for granted it’d be there. It’d be there, Lance would be there, and... he missed it. He missed it with an almost forgotten sense of longing. It filled the hole that leaving his father’s shack had created. Coran was so proud of it. Allura and Coran had slept for 10,000 years, protected safely for all that time, only for it be destroyed in the end. How much more did they have to lose before the war was truly over? What else was there left to lose other than their lives? The lions had proven that in the tuffest of situations they wouldn’t turn and abandon their Paladins. Not without a fight. So if that left their lives... No. That was a box best left closed. Shiro had lost his life. Lance had lost his life. They both could have been lost forever, and the war had still raged on. With the team in the game, what was happening outside? Was his mother still waiting for him to wake? Did Kosmo no longer love him because he’d been sleeping so long? Life continued no matter the circumstances. Experience after experience was happening without them there... and the journey still wasn’t over. It was all enough to leave him thoroughly depressed.

Keith was still spiralling in his thoughts when the others came running back to camp. His first instinct was that they were being chased, that he should draw his blade and protect his team. The Barbarian started to push himself up, only for Hunk to hold up his hand telling him to stop, as he panted for breath  
“It’s... all... okay. Allura... suggested... light training...”  
Allura seemed as out of breath as Pidge and Hunk, her cheeks flushed red as she staggered over to sit by the unlit fire. Keith had never seen her so exhausted from exercise. Even when she sweated, she kept that dignified air around her  
“Phew. I’m glad that’s over. No troubles here?”  
Pidge followed Allura’s lead, plopping herself down across the fire pit. Allura nodding at her words  
“Yes, I must admit I may have underestimated Vala’s athletic ability”  
That was it? Seriously? They were training?  
“You had me thinking you were being chased”  
“Sorry, Dark. Nothing to stab this time”  
“Not yet, but take a look at this!”

Pulling a rolled up piece of parchment from her armour, Pidge beamed with pride, not shared with Hunk or Allura. Shiro asking   
“What’s that?”  
“Well... we ran into a small issue...”  
“I wouldn’t call a troll, a small issue!”  
Hunk looked nervous... and what was this about a troll? Trolls didn’t sound like something they should be messing with, not with Pike like this. His boyfriend seemed barely able to keep his eyes open for longer than a few minutes. Pidge waved the paper happily   
“Ignore him. So, we were doing some recon, trying to find a guide up the mountains but none of the Sherpas are willing to work. There’s a troll along the path that’s been feasting on their goats... I had the bright idea that we’d deal with the troll, and in return, they’ll guide us through the mountains free of charge!”  
“And you agreed to this, Allura?”  
Allura sighed at Shiro   
“It’s really did seem the best option. We need to cross that mountain range, meaning we’ll need a guide. We can’t cross if the troll is there, and we can’t hire a guide either”  
“But what about Pike?”  
All eyes went to Pike, he hadn’t woken yet, nor did he seem about to  
“Has he slept the whole time?”  
Keith nodded, hand coming up to rest on Pike’s shoulder   
“Yeah. I don’t know if... I don’t know if we can cross when he’s so weak”  
Pidge seemed to have already thought ahead  
“That’s why we need a guide. If we can get him up on the back of the goat, we won’t have to worry about him walking. I think that maybe, because we’re so close to the castle, he’s losing energy. Ryndery said the pearl fed on his energy. Maybe... maybe this is what she meant”  
“Pike isn’t going to die!”

Crap. He hadn’t meant to snap... Pidge’s logic was sound. Ryndery had said as much, and that the pearl fed on his energy. Pike had only had the energy for sex and sleep... perking up energy wise after they’d napped... after having sex... but that was hours, did Keith’s energy last that long? Pike was running out of energy, which he could top up by having sex with his boyfriend? Quiznak. The whole reason he’d come into the game was because he wanted to try that rather than having sex with his friend who couldn’t give his consent. Now he was supposed to do the same thing, this time inside the game, with a Pike too sleepy to give his consent properly.

“I didn’t say he was. I’m saying that maybe because we’re so close, the pearl is drawing more energy out of him”  
Pidge had more patience for him, than he had for her, continuing   
“With the decrease in physical energy, having a mount and a guide will take a lot of pressure of us”  
“Unless the game tries to kill us”  
There was no such thing as paranoia when everything was trying to kill them  
“If we want to cross the mountains, we have to start here at the pass. That means slaying the troll. Stop acting like you’re the only one thinking of Lance and realise that we’re all here working together to make this as easy as possible for him”  
“I’m not saying that you’re not. I’m saying I don’t see it working the way we all hope it will”  
“So that’s a good enough reason to give up? Wait here until he dies than go back to our lives like it’s okay? We kill the troll and we get one step closer”  
“Okay. That’s enough you two. Let’s think things through, then talk about it come morning”  
Shiro was “dadding” his arguing children. Both he and Pidge were nothing if not stubborn. Pidge was right, but... He really didn’t want Pike pushing himself any further, not when the pearl could drain the last of his life before they reached the finish line. He wasn’t being much of a good leader by making Pidge feel dismissed, yet agreeing so readily... he felt like he was... like he was condemning Pike to whatever came next. Without Pike to talk to, he felt everything piling up again in his mind. He didn’t have that distraction or that out. Plus, Pike was part of the team, he needed to clear things with him and make him feel like his input was valuable, which it was. Would it make him a terrible boyfriend to wake Pike up, so they could talk... but if Pike woke up horny, things might get too heated too fast too talk. Keith felt gored on the horns of dilemma he didn’t know how to face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone in the background yelling at Keith to do the damn talking thing, I feel ya


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweats nervously... this took a hot minute to update. I have no excuses, but I do have 16 chapters of my other fic already written... does that count?

Leading Pike away from the group, his boyfriend was on edge. Perhaps using the forever ominous “We need to talk” hadn’t been the best phrasing of words, though they needed to do just that. Promising him it was nothing bad, his boyfriend had spent their walk with one arm across his stomach like he was trying to give himself a hug. Sure, it was a conversation they could have had as a team, but Keith didn’t want Pike feeling overwhelmed with everyone trying to have their say at the same time  
“Babe, I’m serious. It’s nothing bad, I just want to talk to you about an idea Pidge had”  
Pike let out a huff  
“You could have just said that. I’ve been worrying myself in circles. Why couldn’t we talk to the group about it?”  
“I wanted to get your opinion on things before we go talk to the others”  
“Basically everyone, but me, knows whatever it is and you’re not sure what to do?”  
Keith nodded, leaning in to kiss Pike’s cheek  
“I’m sorry. I’m overreacting, I know it, but I’m... I’m worried about you”

Pike slipped out of his hold, leading Keith over to the base of a rather boring tree. Leaning back against it, Pike tugged Keith into his hold   
“It’s the sleeping thing, isn’t it?”  
“Yeah, it is. Babe, what’s been going on with you?”  
“I don’t know. I feel exhausted all the time... all I want to do is sleep, even that walk’s left me tired”  
That wasn’t good. Nuzzling into Pike, Keith found his hands were shaking. How could they fight a troll, when Pike was so weak?  
“Do you feel anything else? Sick? Hungry?”  
“No. No, just tired... and, um... maybe a bit horny”

Their theory had to be correct, the pearl was draining Pike’s energy at an accelerated rate due to finally being near the end of their journey. Sliding his hand up his boyfriend’s tunic and onto the taunt skin Pike’s stomach, Keith found warmth. Not simply the warmth of the man he loved, but a good warmth radiating from the swell. Wriggling, Keith raised his gaze from Pike’s stomach to his face, cheeks flushed and his bottom lip between his teeth. His boyfriend looked so damn fuckable...  
“Babe?”  
“I’m okay...”  
There was a clear unsaid “but”  
“But?”  
“But when you touch me, it feels... I feel the pearl throbbing, everything throbbing... What’s wrong with me?”  
Keith slid his hand back out of Pike’s tunic, wrapping his arm around his lover  
“There’s nothing wrong with you”  
“You’re worried about me. Like, more than usual worried. I can see it, and I’m still like this... what’s wrong with me?”

Pike was getting teary now, Keith couldn’t keep him in the dark. His lover finally recognising that maybe he was “allowed” to worry for himself. That it was okay to recognise that there was something wrong with him that they needed to address  
“We have a theory. The closer we get to the castle, the more the pearl feeds on your energy. We’re now so close that the pearl is reaching its peak. I... I kept something from you. Ryndery, at the village, said the pearl fed on your energy, and mine when we’re connected. The pearl is calling out for my energy, as yours isn’t enough anymore. I shouldn’t have kept things from you, but I wanted to concentrate on all of us reaching the castle. You haven’t been well, babe. You’re sleep walking in the middle of the night. You’re weakened, and I’m scared. Pidge said we need a guide to cross the mountains, but we can’t get a guide unless we kill a troll... we need to do this, but I... all I care about is being your boyfriend. I can’t... I can’t put you in danger. I’m not saying you can’t handle yourself. I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying I’m scared taking you to the castle will mean losing you forever. We’ve only just begun our journey as a team. We need more time... Time to reconnect and heal. Time to rest, but if we stay here for too long... what if you close your eyes and never wake up?”

With a sniffle, Pike rubbed his cheek against Keith’s   
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I understand why you didn’t tell me, but things like this are what we need to talk about. If you need to wake me up, then wake me up. Keep waking me up. Wake me up a thousand times if you have to. I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t want to be useless. I don’t want to drag the team down, but most importantly, I don’t want you to feel like this. You’re a good leader, in a sucky circumstance. If we need to kill a troll, then we’ll goddamn kill that troll. And we’ll do it as a team, even if you have to wake me up mid fight to do so. Dark, you can do this. All those thoughts in your head, it hurts that it hurts you so much. You’re my boyfriend. We’ve got enough unsaid history between us as it is. We can’t afford to keep secrets, and you can’t afford to get weighed down in the “what ifs”. I don’t want to weigh you down. Maybe... maybe we should stop having sex? I don’t want you to feel the way I do... I want you to be happy”  
“I’m happy when I’m with you”  
“That’s a lie. Right now you’re miserable and scared”

Pike was killing him here, he was happy with Pike. He didn’t need him pointing out the obvious that should obviously be left unsaid. Keith felt so quiznakking overwhelmed, he wanted Pike to just shut up about everything serious. He wanted to lay under the stars with his boyfriend, cuddle and kiss, share whispers and not talk about this anymore. Pike needed his energy  
“But you make everything better... I want to give you my energy. I want to spend that eternity with you”  
He never should have told Lance he didn’t want to. He should have manned up and realised sooner, not lashed out because he was struggling   
“I won’t have you risking your life any more than you are...”  
Risking his life kind of came with the game. It was also about par for being a Paladin. Until they reached Earth, they’d continually be in danger, day in, day out  
“It’s my life to do with what I wish. I’d take having you in any way I can get, even if it cost me my life. You’re so quiznakking important to me... that’s why all of this is so hard”  
“I know. I know it is... but, Dark, I feel the same way, remember. I don’t want to live in a world without you”  
“Then let me help you. Let me keep supporting you until the end. You promised...”

Pike sighed, nuzzling into Keith’s hair as he held him   
“What am I going to do with you?”  
“Come to bed with me... let me give you my energy. I love you, Pike. If we’re going to battle a troll, you need every bit of energy you can get. Let me be with you, if not for your sake, then for mine”  
“I can’t tell if you’re horny, trying to be sweet, or just a self sacrificing idiot?”  
“One and two, maybe a little of three?”  
Pike sighed at him again. Keith was pretty sick of the all the sighing his boyfriend was doing  
“What?”  
“You didn’t have to be so honest”  
“Really? What should I have said? Denied it all?”  
“No, no. I don’t know. The idea of having sex to share energy scares me. I don’t want... I mean...”  
“You wanna do it because we like each other?”  
“Ugh. You make it sound so lame out loud”  
“That’s because you’re an idiot. I already like you. I more than like you. You needing energy is a bonus... maybe not a bonus... argh. Right. You, me, sex, now. Clear?”

Pike pushed him away to double over laughing. His hand waving air across his red face. Keith didn’t appreciate being laughed at, but he could see the humour in it for Pike. His words sounded more like Lance would say anyway, as he stomped his foot   
“Stop laughing”  
“Babe... I don’t think I can... that was... not subtle at all”  
“You’re the one who said...”  
“It’s all about the mood. You sounded like me... By the god of light, I love you”  
“You’re impossible”  
“And you worry too much. Me, you, cuddle, now?”  
Had Keith not been so whipped, he might have thrown his hands up and stomped off. Their whole conversation made no sense. He hadn’t been trying to get into Pike’s pants, but then he was, because he was panicked over the following day, and now he was huffy because his boyfriend was laughing when not even 10 minutes ago he was admitting he was scared... and now his dick was interested more in feeling Pike than in Pike’s feelings  
“If we cuddle you’ll fall asleep”  
“And if we don’t cuddle, you’ll fall asleep all grumpy”  
“I’m not grumpy”  
“Really? Was that not a whiny tone you just used?”  
Yeah, it’d been a little whiny. Keith was tired of going around in circles with his head. Cuddles wouldn’t just stop at cuddles, but he was annoyed at himself for saying they should have sex basically so he could worry less about taking Pike into battle with the troll. It was a douche move. It was a douche move that he couldn’t take back, even if Pike laughed it off, Keith was kicking himself for it  
“Screw you”  
“If you insist...”  
“You’re not funny. Let’s just... let’s just go back to camp. You’re asleep on your feet as it is”

*  
Sex happened. Keith couldn’t deny he was to blame. Curled around Pike, they’d both been sleepy as kissed turned to more, then next thing Pike was in his lap and Keith was awash with orgasmic bliss. There middle bit was fuzzy, but the sex bit... the sex bit was as great as it’d been... even if the team was sleeping not 10 metres away from them. Wearing himself out, Pike had bottom from the top, Keith’s hands leaving marks on his slim hips as he fucked his lover without mercy. The deed was done and he couldn’t undo it, nor he could ignore the tendrils of sleep. Come morning he would have thought it a dream if their pants hadn’t been around their ankles with Pike’s very naked arse, up against Keith’s very shameless dick... aaaaand sex happened again. Pike wasn’t thinking straight, Keith feeling as if he’d taken advantage of him as his boyfriend began to purr, soft and warm in Keith’s arms, pulling Keith as tightly against him as he could. Had Pike been thinking right, he would have rejected taking Keith’s energy to feed the pearl. He would have broken down into tears, apologising for what happened, not take his hand and held up to his chest as his body vibrated with the loudness of his purr.

Still tangled together beneath the blankets, Shiro cast him a judgmental look as the others went about getting up and organised for the day ahead. Pike didn’t help things with his messed up hair and well fucked expression as the pair of them were left waiting until Shiro finally took mercy on them and sent the others out to find supplies. Openly affectionate, Pike’s kisses were far too tempting and far too sweet as Keith died internally from having to be rescued by his brother. They didn’t have enough time for another round, Keith felt drained as it was. Knowing it was for Pike’s sake didn’t take away the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Nor did it clean up the mess they’d made of their bedding. Today was going to quiznakking suck, he just knew it.

The fact Pike was awake and walking under his own steam clued everyone into the fact they’d been getting busy. Forced to appear as Paladin’s of Light, Keith couldn’t hold his boyfriend’s hand, the distance giving him some much needed time to cool himself down... continually yawning as he tried to think  
“Dark, can we talk?”  
Hunk and Pidge were making by the most of Pike being awake, pointing out things they thought he’d be interested in as they walked ahead as a group with Allura, in the overly busy town that Keith instantly disliked. There were too many people, each person only putting him further on edge as the walked, Shiro’s hand brushing against his   
“What is it?”  
“You. Something’s on your mind”  
“It’s complicated”  
“It’s Pike. I know you talked with him”  
“And you can see how well that worked out”

Grabbing him the arm, Shiro held him back  
“Talk to me. You’re not alone”  
“No. I’m not alone and apparently I can’t keep my dick to myself either”  
Shiro sighed at him  
“Is that the problem? That you had sex with Pike?”  
Twice... once was bad enough... but twice...  
“I... I fucked up and he’s completely clueless”  
“What do you mean, that you fucked up?”  
“I had sex with him. I told him yesterday, about how he’s probably feeding on my energy. He said he didn’t want to have sex, then the next thing we do is have sex. He said he didn’t want it, then he did, then it happened and now I don’t know what to do. He doesn’t want my energy. He’s scared at the idea, but... we can’t keep our hands off each other. I feel like I took advantage of him. He said...”  
Keith’s breath hiccuped, Shiro going from holding Keith’s arm to wrapping his arm around him  
“Okay. You’re okay. I get it now. You’re worried about him not really wanting it, but entertaining you”  
“Yeah... I feel... like a dick”  
“You two got swept up in the moment. Did you hold him down?”  
“What? No...”  
“Did you force him down and force yourself upon him?”  
“What...?”  
“You two are young and in love. You want to be with each other all the time. Neither of you have much blood for your head when you’re together. Pike loves you. You should talk to him about this. Be honest about how you feel right now”  
“How can I? I don’t... I don’t want him to think that... that I’m...”  
“You’re trying to respect him. There’s nothing wrong with that”  
“But what if he doesn’t remember. What if the game changes things? What if he... What if he gets hurt because he doesn’t care, because he thinks I don’t respect him?”  
The “what ifs” seemed endless  
“I honestly think you’re over thinking this. If you don’t want a physical relationship, then be clearer about why”  
“I told him straight up that I didn’t mind sharing my energy with him. He’s the one who said no, then climbed in my lap”  
“Then apologise to him. He loves you. He didn’t want to have sex with exchange of energy as the basis. Explain to him that wasn’t what it was, and make sure you make yourself clear. You can’t keep beating yourself up when we have a troll to defeat”  
Keith nodded, not entirely sure Shiro had helped him figure anything out   
“I don’t know if this helped or not”  
“I don’t know either, but you’re my brother. Whatever you do, I’ll support you the best I can”  
“I know you will... Gyro, I really love him. I don’t want to live without him”  
“Then it’s a good thing we’re all getting out of this together. We’ll bring him back, then we’ll figure it out together. Our pack will be stronger than ever”  
“I hope so... I don’t think he’ll survive things going back to how they used to be...”  
“They won’t. We’re all aware of how many mistakes we’ve made. When we get back, we’re all going to apologise to him properly”  
“And what if... what if he decides he doesn’t want me in the real world”  
“He’s in love with you. His head might be all over the place, but to him, you’re the one he wants to be with. Just because things didn’t work out with Adam, doesn’t mean things won’t work out with Lance. I made some stupid choices I wish I could change, but being your brother isn’t one of them. Believe in yourself, like Lance believes in you. You’ve got this, kiddo”

Keith wasn’t sure he did. Once Lance woke, things might be even worse than they’d been before. He didn’t want to doubt his boyfriend, but Lance had so many issues he still needed to work through, leaving Keith only able to support him as he did. Feelings were so damn complicated, but feelings that might die as the game ended... he didn’t know how to come back from that. If they lost Lance, then the universe would no longer be this bright hope that Lance seemed to think it was. If Lance was gone, hope was gone... and without hope, what else remained? He’d been right in thinking today wasn’t going to be a great day. How was he supposed to fight a troll when his heart was breaking because he couldn’t shut his own head up. He didn’t doubt Lance cared for him... so why did he have to be like this?

“Hey, Pike! Dark wants to talk to you”  
Keith could have stabbed Shiro for interfering. Hunk, Pidge, and Allura all moving away to leave Pike standing alone. He was ready to stomp on Shiro’s foot at least, until Pike turned back to him, his eyes bright and his smile wide  
“Babe, you have to come see this!”  
Keith wasn’t ready to talk... he was deep in self brooding, angry at everything, until he saw that goddamn smile. Leaning in Shiro whispered to him  
“See, he wants to talk, we’ll go ahead a little and give you time to catch up”  
“You’re an arse. Why do I love you again?”  
“Because you’re you. Now go talk to your boyfriend”

Keith forced perk into his step as he jogged up to Pike. In Pike’s palm sat a single yellow daisy thing, so very Earthly when compared to the rest of the world  
“You found a flower?”  
“Yeah... Hold still”  
Tucking it behind Keith’s ear, Pike giggled happy with himself   
“It suits you”  
“I think it’d suit you better”  
“Nah. Babe, I know Gyro said you want to talk, but can I say something first?”  
Keith didn’t think he could feel sicker if he tried, until Lance burst that last little bubble inside of him, nerves nearly too much as he tried to sound casual  
“It’s never stopped you before”  
“That’s true. Um... I feel like you’re not okay. So I want to say, you don’t have to tell me what you two were talking about, even if Gyro’s saying you should. I just want to say that I’m sorry if I’m the one who...”  
Keith reached out, pulling Pike against him, not really sure why  
“No. No, it’s... Are you okay?”  
“I’m okay... just worried about you. Block and Meklavar we’re trying to distract me, but this whole time I’ve been thinking about you. If there’s something you want to say, I’ll always listen... just... don’t forget that you can talk to me”  
“I... I feel bad. I feel bad we had sex, after you said you didn’t want to. I feel like I took advantage of you, and I feel like the crappiest boyfriend alive”

Rubbing his cheek against Keith’s, Pike hugged him tighter  
“I wish you’d talked to me sooner”  
“How could I... after...”  
“Nope. No. Okay, we did it, and yeah, neither of us were probably thinking about anything more than the next few minutes, but we didn’t do it out of obligation. We did it because were young and horny, and that dick of yours is on point. I’m the one who feels bad. You’re sleep walking while I’m awake, but we can’t undo what we did. You didn’t take advantage of me. You wouldn’t do that. You’re here because you’re not like that. I... I love you”  
“Do you?”  
Pike froze in his arms, a tremor running through the fellinwere  
“What?”  
“Do you... when... when this... we’ll be together, won’t we?”  
Pike let out a shaky breath  
“You’re all that I want. I thought you knew that”  
“I do... but I’m scared. I’ve never been... you’re the one I want... but what if...”  
“Babe. No. Don’t go there”  
“I can’t help it. I’ve tried talking to Gyro, that only made me more confused. I tried working it out and now I don’t know...”  
“Okay. No more thinking for you. You’re tired and your brain isn’t working right. I’m serious about this, us. I’m also serious that we’re not having sex again, not when you’re so tired you look ready to cry. You’re my boyfriend. I care about you and your feelings. You keeping it yourself and worrying yourself in circles isn’t good for you. I promised we’d be together until the end... okay?”  
Keith groaned   
“I think I feel even more confused”  
Kissing his cheek, Pike then leaned back so he could look him in the face   
“That’s okay. You’re Darkstorm Thunderspear and you like to stab things, like big ugly trolls. Today we’re going to kill a troll, and get the win so we can be together... even if I don’t know why you’d...”  
Keith hurried to kiss Pike before he could start insulting himself. For all his self loathing, the kiss came easy. He felt better for having spent the few minutes talking to Pike, than he had going around in circles with Shiro. His boyfriend didn’t blame him, even if he himself felt bad, Pike simply acknowledged that they were thinking with their dicks and not their heads, meaning he hadn’t been thinking about feeding on Keith’s energy when it happened. The Lance inside of Pike was hoping for more once the game ended. He wanted more. He wanted him. He knew just what to say to make things seem more okay. Lance had always been good like that... Still, Keith wasn’t going to give in to his desires again. He was going to be an upstanding Paladin of Light until he could finally be by Lance’s side properly. As a proper boyfriend made of flesh and blood, and not video game pixels. He just needed to keep his shit together a little longer and it’d all be done.

Breaking the kiss, Pike raised his hand to adjust the flower behind Keith’s ear  
“You’re smiling again. I like it when you smile”  
“It’s your fault”  
“I don’t mind. But I have to say, that kiss totally got me all hot”  
Keith snorted  
“You were already hot”  
“Aw babe, thank you. I mean, I do try...”  
Keith gave Pike a quick peck on the lips before he started off again  
“You’re very trying. In all the right ways. I’m sorry for feeling insecure”  
“Being insecure is part of love, but no one ever talks about that. You’re you, and I like you. Let’s go catch up with the others before we end up lost”  
“I think I can manage to find them again”  
“And I think you need to take a break from thinking. Besides, I’m actually awake today, I want to go on this little adventure to find them with you, so let’s not find them too fast, well, I mean of course we’ll find them, but you know what I mean”  
“Nope. I haven’t got a clue”  
Pike dropped his head forward, Keith kissing his forehead because Pike was simply too adorable not to  
“Liar”  
“Maybe a little. What do you think the other Paladins of Light would think about holding hands?”  
“They can all go jump for all I care. I don’t care who watches. I’m not ashamed to be with you”

*  
Just as Keith thought things were improving, the game jumped. He went being a love sick idiot with his boyfriend in the middle of the town, to finding himself running through thick snow with the others. Pidge was screaming. Allura was screaming. Hunk’s screaming summed it up  
“I’m not prepared for this!”  
Keith was not prepared either. As a roar shook the landscape, Keith made the mistake of looking backwards, the troll they were supposed to be fighting looked less than impressed. Half a dead goat was stuck on one it’s massive tusks. This was not the sweet moment he’d been having with Pike at all  
“What the fuck happened?!”  
“Duck!”

Firing an arrow off, Keith was nearly speared as it flopped midair, leaving him diving for snow as it landed near his boot. Grabbing hold of his arm, he was hefted you by Hunk  
“Aw, man... I think it’s really mad”  
“Pidge trying to blow it up didn’t help with that!”  
“At least I hit my target! Quick, cast protection!”  
A hunk of goat went flying over them, Keith wrinkling his nose in disgust  
“I told you we should have tried talking to it!”  
“Guys! What happened!?”

Allura, Pidge, and Hunk, all stopped to look at him as if he’d grown another head  
“The game skipped...”  
Pidge threw her hands in the air  
“Of course it did! One moment we were in town, the next we were following the Sherpa, and the next thing after that Pike and Shiro were disappearing as we tried to negotiate with that thing! Who ate our Sherpa!”  
“I just woke up... running with you guys screaming”  
“Fuck! I’ve had it with this game!”  
Pidge screamed upwards at the sky, flipping it off with both finger  
“What she means to say is perhaps now is not the best time to be wasting time. We need a plan to bring thing down”  
“And soon, like real soon, I don’t know long this spell is going to last”  
Keith didn’t know how long he was going to last, he still felt bone tired, and now Pike and Shiro were missing again  
“Can’t you summon a flying mount?”  
Allura shifted her weight  
“Um... well, my arrows...”  
“Just do it!”  
Pidge had snapped, Allura looked a little afraid of the angry dwarf, opening and closing her mouth twice before shyly pointing out the fact  
“We could be knocked out the air”  
Pidge growled  
“Into snow! Look, if we can find Pike, we can get the rest of the explosives from him and aim for the eyes of the troll, then fucking leg it like there’s no tomorrow”  
“Where are they?”  
“On the other side of the troll. Keep up, Keith!”  
Pidge was really letting her anger show, Keith yelling back at her. He couldn’t keep up if he didn’t know what had happened  
“The game skipped!”  
“Ugh! Allura, summon us a ride already”

Allura failed at summoning a flying mount, “Kosmo” summoned instead. At least he was more useful than that seal thing she’d summoned last time they were in the snow. Fisting the wolf’s dark fur, Keith found himself in Allura’s usual spot, digging his heels in to spur the beast into action  
“Which way do we need to go?”  
“Either, as long as we avoid the troll’s range”  
Why couldn’t it have been a gargoyle? Heck, Keith would take a Weabloanian worm over a goat throwing troll. He knew how to fight both a gargoyle and a worm, but trolls were kind of fucking scary. Worse when you really examined the beast that was easily as tall as Black, and sporting a somewhat Zarkon appearance. Nimbly the wolf wove it’s way through the snow, avoiding pieces of goat and snow thrown their way  
“When we reach them, I want Hunk to concentrate on protecting Shiro and Lance. Pidge, you’ll be in charge of where we place those explosives. Allura, I know your arrows aren’t working properly, but we need you to distract the troll. Shiro only has one arm, and we don’t know if Pike has run out of energy yet”  
“On it! If we can sever the tendons in the ankles, it should bring it down”  
“What about recovery time?”  
“Oh, shit... a few minutes max. It’s a magical humanoid after all”  
Keith nodded at Pidge’s words  
“Good. Hunk, are there any spells you can try?”  
“I can try sleep, but it’s a higher level than I am, so the spell might not effective”  
“Let’s just hope it’s very effective. Okay, we’ve got a plan. Pidge, I’ll cover you in short range”  
“You can’t, you’re exhausted”  
“I feel my energy rising when I think about protecting Pike”  
“Of course you do. You two are like two halves of the same idiot”  
“I do intend to make him my mate, so save the teasing until then”  
“God help us all”

The wolf led them to Shiro and Pike. Shiro laying with his head in Pike’s lap as Pike tried to staunch the bleeding. Beneath them the wolf disappeared, Keith landing on his arse at the unexpected dissolving of the spell. Hunk was already running towards their party members as Keith was pushing himself up  
“What happened?”  
“The troll knocked us back. He hit his head and I can’t get him to wake up”  
“Block, cast healing. Pike, I need whatever explosives you have on you”  
Pike’s hands were shaking, Hunk careful as he moved Shiro off of the fellinwere  
“Pike, come on! We don’t have all day”  
“Meklavar!”  
Pidge shot Keith a glare, yeah, they didn’t have all day but Pike was freaking out. Keith hated the snow and how stupidly his footing fell as he waded his way to his boyfriend   
“Babe, explosives?”  
“I...”

Hooking his hands under Pike’s arms, Keith pulled him up  
“Explosives?”  
“I don’t know if I have any... pockets... need to check my pockets”  
“That’s it...”  
“Guys, we don’t have time to for this!”  
Allura yelled as she fired an arrow towards the troll, the beast lumbering towards them. Jamming his hands in his pockets, Pike pulled out a pile of junk, dropping it in the snow before before pulling out another handful. Three small explosives in his hands  
“This is all I have left!”  
Three wasn’t much... not enough to bring the troll down  
“New plan, I’ll take them. You said the back of the ankles, didn’t you?”  
“You can’t!”  
Pike and Pidge protested at the same time. If he did this, then Pike would be safe. They’d be safe. They could move forward again...  
“I’ve got this”

The troll hefted a boulder of snow at them, Keith pushing Pike down as he took the explosives from him. He’d been a damn Blade member. He knew his way around them  
“I’m sorry, babe”  
This was his time to shine. His time to protect everyone... as he took part of the snow boulder to the face, knocking him off his feet. Looking between keith and the troll, Pike snatched up the explosives  
“I’ve got this”  
“Pike...”  
“Allura, cover me!”  
Wiping blood off his brow, Keith climbed up, Pike was already heading towards the troll, he’d disappeared and reappeared twice before Keith found his footing   
“Go for the ankles!”  
Pidge yelled out in encouragement, Hunk raised his gaze to him  
“I’ll heal you in a second. Shiro should wake right back up. Man, this magic thing is convenient”  
“Go, Vala!”

Pike was what Keith imagined a running penguin to be. He was all waddley with an off centre of balance. Disappearing as the troll’s foot came down, Keith’s heart was starting to race as he clenched his hands into fists. The battle high was coming as he was being forced to watch. Allura was adapting into instinct to the way Lance disappeared and reappeared. Now close enough to the troll, she stabbed an arrow into its big toe, the beast howling loud enough the hill beneath them shook   
“We need to move! It’s going to cause an avalanche at this rate!”

Pidge had gone from excited yelling to “oh, quiznak” yelling. Keith not moving, eyes on Pike as he tried to avoid being stomped on  
“Fuck this. I’m going to help”  
“You can’t!”  
“That’s my boyfriend!”  
“Pike said he could do this! Trust him!”  
Keith jerked back, Pidge was defending Pike, believing in him and Allura  
“He needs...”  
“He’s got this. We packed in a little more boom. In the right place, it’ll topple. Then you can cut the tendons”  
“Keith, Pidge is right, Pike can do this”  
Keith dropped his gaze to Hunk who was rising to his feet. Shiro’s eyes were fluttering open, but Keith was more focused on the fact that Hunk was putting his faith in Pike... Now was not the time to be realising the fact that Pike was awesome  
“Vala!”  
Shooting a flaming arrow, Keith cringed as said arrow hit the trolls loin cloth. That had to hurt, he couldn’t blame the troll from screaming. Diving out the way, Allura then went scrambling to escape the stomping troll  
“Pike!”  
“They’re on! Move!”  
“Hunk, cast shield!”

The troll staggered on the spot, two loud explosions causing its body to lose balance. Yeah, no shield was protecting them from that   
“Quick, Allura, we need a mount!”  
Allura fired an arrow as she ran, Pike had disappeared again. Summoning what looked like a unicorn, Allura ran along side it, before grabbing it’s flowing white mane to climb up on the back. Riding towards them, it was a race between the troll falling and Allura reaching them  
“Block, cast a sound wave! See if you can knock it to fall back the other way!”  
“It’s too late!”

The next few moments were chaos. With vigour they shouldn’t have, they all ended up on the back of the unicorn, the troll falling towards them as Allura spurred the beast on. Yelling as it fell, slow started to slide, a boom coming as the body hit the ground   
“Allura, get us close! Keith, we need to cut those tendons right through!”  
Fuck the tendons, where was Pike?  
“Can anyone see Pike?!”  
“We need to keep the troll down!”  
“Where’s Pike?!”  
Stupid blood was getting in his eye now, head wounds couldn’t keep their shit together   
“Keith, keep the troll down and we’ll get to Pike. He gave us this opportunity, don’t make it for nothing”  
Allura was annoyingly right. He had to hold his shit together. He had to keep the troll down for Pike’s sake.

Up close the troll smelt of rotten flesh. It’s skin almost scaly with callouses, the skin an ugly shade of greeny-purple. Where the explosives had gone off, the blood was a gunky yellow, like puss, oozed from the wound as the troll pounded its fists. Slicing through the thick tendons and muscles and grossness, it sounded as revolting as it was. Things cracking and crunching, his blades covered in troll blood as he hacked at the wound and hoped for the best, not sure if he was doing anything as he couldn’t see past the blood  
“That should be good enough! We’ve got Pike, let’s get out of here!”  
Keith had taken so long on hacking at the back of the troll’s heel that Pidge had gotten bored enough to cut off what she could of a toe  
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”  
“You looked like you really needed to stab something. Let’s get going! This sack of shit has no loot!”

As they mounted up, the ground beneath them began sliding. Pike barely upright, was leaning heavily on Hunk for support. He hadn’t been crushed, but he’d hit his limit. Pidge’s little legs tried to move a double time  
“We need to go! There’s an avalanche!”  
Great. What else was going to happen?


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya’ll should have screamed at me for the late reply. I’m trying not to make chapters tooooo long... I know how hard it can be to scroll through thick blocks of text. Anyway, team time?

Caught in the sliding snow, the group found themselves falling, greedy over the ending so close, as they fell from the snowy cliff, they all landed in a thick field of green grass. Keith could only assume the game feared killed Lance too prematurely and had helped them reach the end ahead of schedule. Brushing themselves off, Pike was the only one who didn’t bother forcing himself up, instead laying with a hand on his belly as everyone else gaped at each other, before words started falling over each other, all in a rush to celebrate no more game outfits  
“We’ve got our armour back!”  
“My bow’s gone!”  
“I miss staff!”  
“I don’t miss you in robes. Holy quiznak, Dark, you look so weird in your amour!”  
“You’re not a dwarf anymore”  
“Are you sure? She’s still pretty short”  
“Hey, all our weapons are gone”

They were. Keith felt for his twin blades, finding nothing on his back. Pike was the only one who still looked like a game character. His boyfriend hadn’t moved from where he laid, he didn’t see what the rest of the team saw, their chattering voices dying as they looked ahead. Moving over to his boyfriend, Keith held his hand out. Pike’s eyes widened as he recognised their armour  
“Come on, we have to keep moving”  
As Pike took his hand, his boyfriend accepted his help to stand. The fellinwere’s free hand still protectively splayed across his belly  
“What the fuck is that?”  
Keith had no answers. Massive walls of greenery stood between them and their way to whatever was on the other side. Pidge hummed, before declaring  
“I think it’s a labyrinth. And I think on the other side is the castle”  
“Like... a labyrinth, labyrinth?”  
Pidge nodded at Hunk  
“I think this might be the final boss before the castle. That has to be why we ended up here... but how do we get past the gates?”  
The two golden gates that stood before them stretched high, nearly as tall as the walls which had to be at least 5 metres by Keith’s reckoning  
“Maybe we should try knocking?”  
Keith raised an eyebrow at Pike, who shrugged in return  
“I mean, if everyone else is okay with it?”  
“I think Pike might be onto something. I can’t see a latch on the gates”  
It’d been so long since Shiro himself had worn his black armour, that Keith found himself staring. It’d been so long that any of them had, really. It was as strange to him as the clothes of a Barbarian had been initially. He felt out of place, almost uncomfortable. Had his armour always felt this tight?  
“Pike, do you feel anything?”  
“Nothing more than usual... fat, slow, like this is a bad idea but we have no other choice... you know, the usual... maybe a little left out”  
“You’re not tired?”  
“A bit... the pearl’s pulsing. It’s like it knows we’re reaching the end”  
“Finally. I’ve had it with this game. Are we doing this, or are we standing here staring?”

The thick hedged walls couldn’t bode well for the imminent future. Keith’s instincts told him that it wasn’t just some grassy maze. With the size of the labyrinth, any number of beasts could we wandering it’s twisting paths... and now they were weaponless before it  
“Babe?”  
Pike’s stupidly blue eyes were focused on him. His boyfriend's eyes seemed to see right to heart of his worry  
“I...”  
Keith didn’t know what to say. These... this... this could be his last few hours with Lance. Selfishly he wanted to blow off entering the maze and run away from the obstacles before them  
“We’re a team. We’ll get through this together, won’t we?”  
“You... This could be the end”  
Pike shrugged  
“I love you. I have faith in you. I’ve always had faith in you. You just need to have faith in you”  
“I don’t want things to end like this...”  
“We don’t know if it’s the end... I’ve got your back, all the way. I always have. Let’s kick some maze arse”  
“And then...”  
“And then we figure out what comes next. I think... I think I’m not as angry as I was... I think I’m okay with whatever happens”  
“Well I’m not!”  
“Whatever happens” could mean the end of Lance and of Pike. 

“Pike’s right. We were falling apart as a team. We’re still finding ourselves, even now, but we’re all in this together. Let’s do this together, as a team”

Hunk wiped at his eyes, Keith unable to find fault with Shiro’s words. They had come together as a team in a way that’d never been before. The others were now openly supporting Pike, accepting that they were wrong and finally seeing that Lance was the glue that kept the team together. Keith was the one dragging his heels, scared of what came next... maybe because he had the most to lose, but maybe because he was terrified of what came next. What came when they all woke up. What came as he and Lance tried to figure out their relationship while fighting and intergalactic war  
“I’ll be with you, until the very end. I love you”  
Keith pulled Pike up against him, nuzzling into his neck with a heavy heart   
“Don’t go anywhere I can’t reach you”  
“I wouldn’t dream of it”

“You two are being gross. Let’s kick this mazes arse. Then we can plot our revenge on this stupid quiznakking game!”  
Pidge’s attempt to ramp up their spirits was sidelined by Hunk  
“Group hug!”  
Pidge glared, Shiro snorting in laughter as their group gremlin was hugged by Hunk, who then extended his arm towards Allura. Allura was happy to oblige, the group shuffling over to pull Shiro   
“Come on guys, group hug”  
Pike laughed, Keith finding himself between his boyfriend and his brother. His pack felt like a pack again, that they were meant to be together  
“When I say “Vol-...”  
“We say -tron!”  
Pike dropped against him, Keith kicking himself for being swept up in the moment... but he hadn’t been the other one, Pidge remembering when Lance had tried to make it a group thing and finishing “Voltron”  
“Whoa... okay. That’s enough team bonding for now. Is he okay?”  
Keith nodded, Shiro the first of their friends to notice the game’s punishment, Pike groaned in response, Keith rubbing his back supportively. It was kind of unfair how cute Pike looked as he clutched at Keith  
“Let’s wait a little longer before we break out the team spirit”  
“Good plan. Pike, are you ready?”  
“Yeah... gimme a tick and I’ll be good to go”

*  
Standing the gates as group, Pike looked to his teammates. Keith holding his hand as he nodded to his boyfriend   
“Go ahead”  
Raising his hand to knock, the gates slid down into the earth. Pidge letting out a nervous laugh that they all felt. This felt different. All of them together and focused. They’d come together to fight the troll, but Keith had come in part way through the fight so the goal wasn’t a united front from the get go. Quietly, Hunk asked   
“I guess we head in?”  
Allura stepped forward, she seemed to have regained some of her brilliance now she was dressed in her pink armour  
“I’ll take point. Gyro, then Dark and Pike, Meklavar and Block you take the rear. We don’t know what we’re facing inside the labyrinth. Try not to touch anything, we don’t know if these walls are stable”  
Pidge shot Allura a mock salute  
“Yes, ma’am. Okay team, we’ve got this”

They’d barely entered the maze before the walls seemed to close in on them. The entrance disappearing once they’d crossed the threshold  
“Whoa!”  
Pidge was right. It was pretty “whoa”. And Keith felt even more strongly that this was not about to be a fun time   
“Don’t touch the walls”  
Rolling her eyes at him, Pidge didn’t appreciate being told again  
“Yes, dad. I heard Vala”  
“I’m just reminding you. You do tend to be curious”  
By curious Keith meant that she was constantly curious by things best left alone  
“You mean she can’t keep her hands to herself”  
Pidge flipped Lance off   
“It’s you two who can’t keep your hands to yourselves... but I kind of want to touch it”  
“Block, make sure Meklavar doesn’t touch anything”  
Pidge crossed her arms  
“I’m not going to touch it. If anything I bet that Block touches it before I do”  
Keith shook his head  
“I’m not taking that bet. We all know Hunk has a healthy fear of everything”  
Hunk tried to defend himself   
“Only everything that wants to kill us, which is basically everything...”  
Shiro gave a “dad” sigh, before sounding so “dad” like that none of them wanted to disappoint him  
“Alright. That’s enough. Meklavar promises she won’t touch any of the walls. None of us will touch the walls. Vala, if you’d be so kind to take lead, we need to get through this maze as soon as possible”

Within the maze time ran on its own agenda. They could have been walking for minutes or hours as they negotiated the twists and turns that took them to their first challenge. A tad too excited, Pidge bumped into Pike, who in turn bumped into Keith, Keith throwing out a hand without thinking, his palm landing against the leaves of the wall. A flash came, an image of their past. “Leave the maths to Pidge”. The memory came with a deep sense of hurt, Keith reeling backwards with a gasp, drawing the attention of the team. He’d torn Lance to shreds internally with his misworded attempt to comfort him  
“Babe?”  
Gritting out his words, Keith found tears in his eyes  
“Don’t... touch the walls”  
“What happened?”  
“I saw... something. Fuck, Pike... I’m so sorry”  
Pike wrapped his arms around him, Keith kind of feeling like he didn’t deserve such a sweet gesture. Pike mustn’t have seen what he did, despite holding his hand  
“Babe?”  
“It’s fine... just no one touch the walls”

“You look seriously spooked, what did you see?”  
Keith shook his head at Pidge. She’d call him more than idiot for the way he’d dismissed Lance like that. How many times had he put Lance down while Lance carried on with a smile for all their sakes?  
“Something I wish I could take back”  
“It can’t be that bad. We’ve all made mistakes”  
Pidge reached out, brushing her fingertips over the wall. She jerked back almost immediately, eyes wide with guilt  
“Fuck... Pike...”  
Wrapping her arms around herself, she seemed to shrink. Hunk wrapped her arm around her shoulder  
“What did you see?”  
“Us... we were joking and we made fun of his feelings... it was like the worst feeling ever. Pike, I never should have... I meant it as a joke, but I didn’t know how much it hurt you...”  
Pike shifted uncomfortably. Keith wondered if he was wondering how many memories were in these walls... What if this whole maze was made of Lance’s insecurities and these walls were the physical manifestations on the walls he’d thrown up trying to protect himself? Keith felt even shittier  
“Oh... um... thanks, but I think for now we should work on this puzzle in front of us”

Walking up to the podium in the middle of the path, the other border was the same green as Pidge’s armour. Allura stares down at the symbols in confusion   
“I don’t know what this means. Is this a human thing? Block, Meklavar, do you know what this is?”  
Pidge slipped between Shiro and Allura to look at the podium, the green Paladin letting out a groan  
“It’s the code I was working on”  
“I don’t recognise this”  
“That’s because it was a side project. Do you remember when went after that trans-reality comet? With the super bad... people of the same race as Vala. There was that box on the back of their necks...”  
“Meklavar!”  
Pidge jumped, Hunk sounded outraged  
“It wasn’t like that. I was thinking maybe we could counter engineer something in case we ever came across something like that again...”  
“Oh, that makes more sense”  
“And... I was thinking that maybe if we had team issues with our other sides... we could find a way to keep them all settled so that side didn’t get in the way”  
“Meklavar!”  
“I couldn’t help it... I wanted to understand how it worked!

“Alright. Let’s save that arguing for later, everyone. Meklavar, do you know what to do with this?”  
The code was on tiles that looked made to slide, with one square missing   
“There’s some pretty clear errors here. Maybe I’m supposed to correct them?”  
Hunk pressed his fingertips together  
“Um... Guys... Making a mind control device doesn’t sound like a good thing to do”  
“I never finished the code... Prince Pin-dick showed up and I got distracted. It’s not like I was making it to control anyone’s behaviour”  
“I think this puzzle if for Meklavar. The frame is green on the outside, like her armour. I think she’s the only one supposed to touch it”  
Pidge turned to Pike  
“That’s a pretty good guess... Block, try touching it”  
“What? Why me?”  
“Because you’re the closest, dah!”  
Hunk reached a hand out, a barrier forming between him and the tiles. Shiro shot Pike a smile  
“Good call. Right, show them how it’s done”

The rest of them could do nothing as Pidge moved the pieces around, they all quietly took a step back knowing how snappy she could get when she was in the zone. Keith was quietly proud that Pike had voiced his ideas, even prouder that they seemed to be on the same wavelength with the colour thing. Having only faced the first obstacle, they couldn’t say for sure until they saw the next one. When Pidge had the tiles in place, a small keypad popped out the bottom of the podium  
“Now what?”  
“You correct the code...?”  
Pidge shrugged, before rolling her head and cracking her fingers  
“I’ve got this”

She did. After a few very very long minutes of typing, there was a small ding and the keyboard slid back into the podium, before the lot slid seamlessly into the ground. Turning to Hunk, he high-fived her with practiced ease. Allura all smiles as if Pidge’s victory was her own  
“Good job, Meklavar. Let’s keep going”

After the first obstacle the terrain turned harder, the ground uneven and their were places where they had to duck their heads to avoid the hedge walls. Not wanting to walk in silence, the conversation gradually turned to what did they think was coming next  
“That was like super easy, why do you think they had a challenge like that in the game?”  
“Fucked if I know”  
Keith’s answer earned him a smack to the back of the head by Shiro   
“Language”  
Keith shot his brother a glare   
“Really?”  
“Yep. Someone has to keep you in line. If we assume the game wants us to solve problems based on our strengths, then we can expect that Block’s should be something to do with baking?”  
“Or engineering? He’s kind of a bad arse engineer”  
Pike didn’t get hit for his use of language, Keith quietly internally pouting as where Shiro hit him throbbed. Hunk looked the happiest he had since they entered the maze  
“Thanks, man!”  
“I’ve got your back, bro”  
“Why was mine coding?”  
Pike rolled his eyes at Pidge  
“Because you’re the most bad arse coder even known?”  
“Then what about Keith? What do you think his would be?”  
Pike, Allura, and Hunk all looked at each other, synchronised as they said   
“Stabbing stuff”  
Keith huffed. It wasn’t his fault he was a natural with a sword, deflecting, he asked  
“And Shiro?”  
Pidge stood a little straighter, pulling her hair into the closest thing she could manage to Shiro’s  
“Patience yields focus”

All of them laughed, except for Shiro who pinched the bridge of his nose  
“Thanks for that”  
Allura hummed  
“What would my skill be?”  
“Basically everything?”  
Pidge clicked her fingers  
“Diplomacy? Maybe you have to negotiate with mice over cheese”  
Allura nudged Pidge, Pidge nearly tripping as she exaggerated the effect   
“Hey, watch the walls. You don’t want to touch them”  
“I negotiate bigger things than mice and cheese”  
“I know. I mean that you’re really good at it”  
“She’s good at other things too...”  
“Aw, thanks, Pike. I don’t know if you should say that in front of Dark, he looked ready to stab me”  
“I can do more than stab things...”  
Pike kissed his cheek, smiling at Keith’s pout. He was pack leader, he could out pilot all of them, not to mention he’d gotten pretty at good at strategising   
“Of course you can, babe”  
“Thank you”

“You two are completely gross. I want this noted”

Pike snorted at Pidge  
“I‘d like how you class this as gross. Dark’s really very sweet”  
Pike wasn’t helping Keith feel less self conscious. He cheeks felt too warm. Being in his armour made the game feel less like a game and more like a step towards the real world. A step towards it being him and Lance, not him and Pike  
“That’s what makes it gross. You both pretty much have hearts in your eyes every time you look at each other”  
“Don’t forget Pike made them matching grass crowns”  
“And he tucked that flower behind Dark’s ear”  
“And he was crying because he really wanted to gift something to Dark”  
“And Dark gave him that new headband, and a sword. That’s pretty much the courting out of the way. All that’s left is marriage and annoying the rest of us by being all lovey-dovey”

Now the whole team was teasing them, Pike nuzzled into Keith’s cheek  
“I don’t come that easily. I want to be courted properly”  
“I wouldn’t dream of calling you easy”  
Pike leaned a little more forward to “whisper” in his ear  
“I didn’t say I was easy I said I don’t come that easily. But if you say that again, I’m happy to cut you off entirely”  
Keith surrendered, amending his words. It wasn’t exactly hard to fall in love with Lance once he’d stopped running from his feelings, but mentioning how easy it was to fall for him would only lead to more teasing   
“Not easy. Not easy at all. I promise to court you properly”  
“Good. Now, I love you, and I really need to sit down before I fall down... So no more getting flustered because we all love you”  
“I’m not flustered”  
“Babe, you’re ready to sink into the ground and you know it”  
“Shut up”  
“And there’s my cranky boyfriend. I hope you’re not so cranky you fail your task”  
“As if. Just watch me”  
“Oh, so manly. Makes me fall for you all over”

“If you two are done, we’d like to move on now”

Keith ducked his head. It really was far too easy to get swept up with Pike. Lance hadn’t always got him, but he had. He’d gotten closer to him than even Shiro had been before he’d come back as Kuron. “Like” had so easily become “love”  
“Sorry, Meklavar. Pike says he needs to rest when get to the next challenge”  
Pike huffed at him  
“Dobber”  
“Don’t worry, bud. If you need a rest, you just tell us”  
“Thanks, Block. It’s not easy lugging around a watermelon under this tunic”  
“Don’t go encouraging them. I don’t want to be an Aunty just yet”  
Allura giggled at Pidge  
“I think they’d make cute babies”  
“And I think we’re all getting distracted. Pike, will you be okay to reach the next task?”  
“Yeah. Dark has a big mouth, but I’ll make it. When this is done, I want at least a year off to recover”  
Allura took Pike’s comment seriously  
“We can’t possibly take a year off... I mean, we could have a small holiday... but it’s not just us to think of, we’ve been out of action for too long as it is”  
“Vala, relax, he was joking. It’s a human thing, plus we were totally promised at least a month of relaxing. So there’s that. We get to kick back and not think about what those two are getting up to”  
Hunk groaned at Pidge   
“And yet you keep bringing it up. No offence, I don’t want to think about my brothers from other mothers getting it on. Let’s go already... anything is better than thinking about that”

*  
Hunk’s eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning as they saw their presents under the tree. His challenge was engineering related, as Pike had guessed. Laying on the podium before them was disassembled box of sorts, wires, tools, and small parts lay beneath the box  
“Is that...?”  
“A relay. Yep”  
Pidge gaped at Hunk’s task in clear envy. The podium was outlined in yellow, proving their theory was indeed right. Helping Pike to sit, Keith forced down his own curiosity over the task. Pike was moving slower now, hissing in discomfort as he wriggled his butt, trying to find a comfortable way to sit  
“Babe, you okay?”  
“Mhmm... Just a bit out of shape”  
“Round is a shape”  
“I feel very round right now...”

Keith could tell he’d put his foot in it. Sitting himself down beside his boyfriend, before he slipped his arm around him  
“I didn’t mean it...”  
Pike let himself be guided into Keith’s hold, rubbing his cheek against Keith’s chest  
“I know. I know you’re joking. I’m just really tired again”  
Being tired sounded on par. He’d hoped Lance wouldn’t tired quite so soon, but they hadn’t had much of a break between troll fighting and labyrinth exploring  
“Can I do anything to help?”  
“Not unless you can fix a relay box”  
“Nope. That’s what we have Hunk and Pidge for”  
Casting a glance over to Hunk, Hunk was frowning heavily. Keith not quite sure why he wasn’t already working on the relay box  
“What’s up?”  
“There’s a shield. I can’t touch anything”  
So the colours of the podiums didn’t relate to their paladin colours  
“Meklavar?”  
“I can’t either. This totally has to be for Block. Unless Vala has some hidden technical skills she hasn’t told us about?”  
“No, I’m afraid not. One of us has to be able to perform the task”  
“Yeah, and it’s yellow, which means it should be Block. Okay... what’s different here? What have I done that you haven’t?”  
“I don’t know...”  
Hunk’s words were cut off as Pike spoke up  
“Meklavar touched the wall. Maybe that’s it? You have to touch the wall first, then you get access?”

Hunk visibly paled at the suggestion   
“You guys said not to touch the walls”  
Pidge wrapped her arms around herself, looking rather sorry as she slowly said   
“And now we have a new theory. I mean... you don’t get physically hurt... and we can’t move on until the task is complete”  
“So I have to touch the wall?”  
Shiro placed his hand on Hunk’s shoulder  
“No matter what you see, we’re a team. We all messed up along the way”  
“I know, man... I just...”  
“Block, it’s okay. Whatever you see, we can talk about it later, okay?”  
Hunk nodded at Pike’s words  
“I’m just really sorry, bud. You’re my best friend and I didn’t even notice”  
“It’s okay... You don’t have to tell us what you see...”  
Pike wasn’t happy. He most likely didn’t want to think about what the past held. Keith could understand not wanting to know, especially when his own glimpse at the past had hurt like a bitch  
“Come on, dude. Think of it like ripping off a bandaid”  
“I don’t rip them off... I let them come off naturally... okay, I’m doing this”

Grief filled Hunk’s face as he placed his hand on the closest piece of wall. The big man tearing up immediately   
“Oh... god... oh, Pike...”  
“Don’t”  
“I’m so sorry, man... I never... I shouldn’t... I didn’t...”  
“Block, it’s okay. Just see if you touch the box now”  
Shifting himself, Keith put himself between Pike and the podium. His hands taking Pike’s in his. His boyfriend had a firm bite on his lower lip, looking as guilty as Hunk had  
“You’re okay, babe. You’re okay”  
Pike released his lip, a small amount of blood glistened on the skin where his teeth had broken through   
“How is that okay? It’s... like... the worst feeling ever”  
“I know it is, but we’ve been working hard to work all of this out. No one is mad at you for how you feel”  
“I feel pretty mad at me right now”  
“Don’t. You’re strong and you’re brave. Facing your past is hard, but we’re all in this together”  
“It sucks”  
“I know it does. But you aren’t alone. We’re a team and we’re going to get through this all together now”  
“I feel like I’m torturing people by making them remember”  
“You’re not doing this. The game is. The game is trying to break us. We’re not going to let it”  
“I feel like it already has”  
“It hasn’t and it won’t. I love you”  
Pike gave him the fondest of smiles   
“Me too... All I ever wanted was to be wanted”  
Pike was an idiot. Keith didn’t know how many other ways to show him he was seriously whipped  
“You are. We all want you in our lives. I want you in my life”  
Pike sighed at him, repositioning himself so they came to settle with the fellinwere between Keith’s legs, both legs over his left one with his side to Keith’s chest. They’d be alright. They had to be alright. They’d come so far together, there was no other outcome other than them all returning back to their reality together.

Hunk’s task took longer than Pidge’s. Pidge supplying a “helpful” running commentary, as Hunk hummed and grunted his replies. Stroking Pike’s arm, Pike had started drifting off against him. Seeing it was taking so long, Shiro squatted down beside them  
“He’s sleeping?”  
“Nearly. How’s Hunk going?”  
Their words were soft, not to keep a secret but because they both were trying not to disturb Pike out of love  
“He’s nearly done. You two were being quite so I thought I’d make sure you were both alright”  
“I wouldn’t say alright, but we’re okay. How about you?”  
“As okay as I can be. I have to admit, I’m a little uncomfortable about reliving Lance’s memories”  
“Tell me about it. I was trying to comfort him, but ended up making him feel like shit”  
Shiro snorted at him, yeah, he’d fucked up a hundred times had been a total shit when they first got blasted into space, but he’d grown since then  
“That doesn’t sound like you at all”  
“You’re not funny, old man. Hey, don’t forget that he’s already forgiven you. Even for when you weren’t exactly yourself”  
“He shouldn’t have had to”  
“If there’s anything he’s taught me is that you can fight can still be family at the end of the day”  
“You two both went and grew up when I wasn’t looking. I’m proud of the pair of you”  
“Can you be quieter with your proudness? You’re making me feel embarrassed listening to the pair of you”

Keith dropped a kiss on Pike’s head. Pike needed to start accepting compliments, Keith intended to try his hardest at being as smooth as Lance with them  
“You were supposed to be sleeping”  
“I was trying my hardest until you two decided to have a bonding moment over me. Dark’s right. Whatever you see, that’s behind us. Okay?”  
Shiro reached out, ruffling Pike’s hair  
“Alright. You know, you really have grown”  
“I blame Keith”  
“You can’t blame me”  
“I can and I do. Is Block done yet?”  
“A few more minutes. How are you holding up?”  
“I could totally sleep for like a month right now...”  
Shiro continued to smile at Lance  
“I think you’ve earned it, putting up with Dark and all”  
“He makes it easy. You raised a pretty good kid”  
Shiro laughed  
“There was some times I didn’t think we’d ever get here. I really am proud of the both of you”  
“Nah, don’t be proud of me. Be proud of him. He learnt everything he needs from you”  
“I think Dark would disagree”  
Keith shook his head at the pair of them  
“Can you not talk like I can’t hear you?”  
Pike sighed at him, tilting his face upwards towards Keith. Fuck... He couldn’t feel mildly annoyed when his boyfriend was looking at him like that   
“Nope. Let us be proud. We earned that”  
“You two are going to be ganging up on me from now on, aren’t you?”  
Pike nodded, before leaning back into Keith’s hold   
“Only when you make stupid mistakes”  
Shiro unhelpfully added  
“He does do that a lot”  
“He does, but his heart’s always in the right place”  
“Yeah. I like to think so too”  
Keith’s cheeks burned. It wasn’t so fun when the compliments were being directed his way. Shiro gave a chuckle at his expression  
“Fine, I’ll leave you two alone for now. Don’t forget we need to have a talk later on. And you better court this man properly. I expect a full report if you don’t”  
Keith was still figuring out how to court... Once they got out of the game, it’d be a whole new world, with a thousand more ways for him to gift Lance’s the wrong things. Huffily, Keith whispered   
“Can you go be somewhere that’s not here?”  
“Gyro, I think you broke him”  
“I think I did too”  
Ugh. Keith almost liked it better when they weren’t talking, at least they weren’t ganging up against him then. Channeling Pidge, all he could do was groan  
“You both suck”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Casually strolls back in. Miss me? 
> 
> I’ve been thinking a lot about this chapter. I haven’t been happy with it because I feel like I didn’t make the point I wanted to make clear enough... 
> 
> I’ve also been trying to do shorter chapters. Which ya’ll would have noticed if you were reading Once Bitten, Twice Stupid. 
> 
> Lance is still being whumped on as we take a couple of very small steps towards the end of the maze

Hunk solved his puzzle by rebuilding the relay box and adjusting coding for it, Allura letting out a cry in victory as she clapped her hands and jumped on the spot  
“That was amazing. I don’t think I’ve praised your skills enough, Block”  
“Don’t praise him too much... You’re slipping, Block”  
Hunk was left hanging as he waited for his high-five from Pidge. Deciding that three super long moments was enough, she high-fived him, which Hunk turned into a hug  
“You try concentrating and making the right choices when you feel awful”  
“I did. Maybe that’s the point? To keep working through things no matter how bad you feel?”  
Hunk let out a strained chuckle, his voice wobblying slightly as he “joked”  
“So another day at the office?  
Shiro didn’t comment on it, instead smiling at the yellow Paladin as he said  
“Good job, Block. That’s two down, and I assume 3 to go”

Why only three more to go when there were six of them? Shiro had rightfully been the Black Paladin, as well as their party member. If they had to go through individual trials, then it was most likely that Shiro did too...  
“Pike, it’s time to move. You okay down there, bud?”  
Hunk redirected Keith’s chain of thought to Pike who yawned sleepily   
“I might need a hand up”  
Allura and Pidge both stepped forward to help, Pike taking their offered hands before he was pulled to his feet. Keith double checking Pike hadn’t lost anything before climbing to his own feet  
“Thanks, guys”  
“We’ve got your back. Now, who’s trial is next?”  
“Oh, I hope it’s me. I would like to know what the game has planned”  
Allura sounded too excited. Keith personally hoped he was next, that way he could concentrate on Pike fully once his turn had been. He also didn’t want to go last. He didn’t want to let the team down... which is why even though he wanted to be next for Pike’s sake, he wanted to go last for the sake of the team. They’d just have to wait and see.

The terrain between the second and third trial was again different. This time the ground beneath became uneven stone, some places required larger steps than others, and some places threatened to give beneath you feet. The ground didn’t actually move, but the feeling was that one wrong step would send you falling like with the castle training room. Pike was struggling to make the larger steps, Hunk lending him a hand where he could, with Keith supporting him from his side the best he could. When they finally reached the next podium, the outline was pink as Allura hoped. There wasn’t anything fancy on the top, simply two places for Allura to place her hands  
“What do we do now?”

Keith shrugged at Pidge. How was he supposed to know what came next. The trial was for Allura to complete, no one but her could touch the podium. Helping Pike sit down again, Pike sighed softly, hand on his belly as he did  
“Before it happens again, Vala, whatever you see I want you to know I forgive you. It goes for everyone. Dark says we’ll talk about it later, so just... don’t make things more complicated”  
“I am sorry, for all the pain I caused you. I hope we can sit down and discuss things as friends soon. I guess it’s time for me to touch these walls”  
Keith was glad Allura apologised again. By now she had a fair idea that she’d hurt Lance deeply. Reaching out, she placed both hands against the labyrinth wall, dropping on the spot as she shook.

Turning her tear filled eyes to Pike, Allura looked more sorry than Keith had ever seen or believed possible  
“Oh, my... We have a lot to talk about”  
Pike looked away from her, Keith settling himself to draw Pike into his arms. Talking about it openly and honestly was best for all of them  
“She’s okay”  
“I still feel responsible”  
“No. No. I understand. You are not to blame for your feelings. But I don’t see how you could be so kind to me... We’ll be talking about this, I’ve been so blind”

Shiro helped Allura stand   
“Will you be alright to continue?”  
“Yes. Yes, I will be. I strongly dislike this game”  
Pike snorted at Allura’s comment  
“I think we all do”  
Allura seemed relieved that Pike was trying to keep things as normal as he could between them   
“We’re going to put an end to this. Time to face my task”

Allura’s task was one they couldn’t see. Allura not giving anything away until her podium sank, her along with it. Hunk rushed to the princess’s side  
“Vala!”  
“I’m okay. It wanted to test my magic and resolve... Did you happen to see any of it?”  
“No. You got a weird look on your face... Are you okay?”  
Allura stretched her hands out, flexing her fingers  
“The feeling was unexpected. Like when the white lion tested me. I did not think I’d ever feel that again”  
“And your magic?”  
“I think I passed. It felt like... it felt as if it was in my head, trying to corrupt my mind. What I was thinking, I could see. It’s not a nice feeling...”  
Hunk hugged Allura   
“I can’t imagine. But we’re all here for you. If anything bad happened like that, you wouldn’t be alone”  
“Thank you, Block. Phew, I feel a little wiped out. I’m glad that’s over with. Shall we proceed? I have the urge to shoot that game board”

Pidge laughed at Allura, a little forced but trying to raise the mood   
“We all know it’s bad when Vala gets murderous. I wonder why we didn’t get to see your task though...”  
Hunk expanded on the idea  
“Maybe it was a lesson in trust? You know, that she’d make the right choice even without our input?”  
Hunk scratched the back of his head, searching with his eyes for someone to provide and alternative theory. Beside Keith, Pike piped up   
“Whatever it was, she still has our trust and backing. Good job, Vala”

Allura grew misty eyed at Pike backing her up, opening her mouth, Keith cut her off. He could see her slipping and apologising for how she treated Lance as a Paladin. Then Pike would be punished and they’d never get to the end of the labyrinth   
“We already agreed we’re not making this weird. If we all start apologising all over again, we’ll never get out of here”  
Pidge laughed, this time it was no where as fake   
“Oh no, we’ve made Dorkstorm mad. We better get moving before he tries to stab us”  
“Call me “Dorkstorm” again, and I will”  
“I’d like to see you try. You’ll have to catch me first”  
“That’s easy enough. You’ve got such little legs...”  
Pidge shot him a scathing glare, she was very much aware that in a foot race she’d be screwed  
“Babe, leave her alone. Gremlins bite when they get cranky”  
Pidge flipped them off, before turning towards the next of section of path   
“Let’s just leave these losers behind. The opinion of anyone who hasn’t completed a trial doesn’t matter”  
Hunk had no off switch for his worry  
“You do know Gyro hasn’t? We kind of need him. He’s like our group elected Sp-... Dad, remember?”

Pidge made a show of being dramatic as she sighed, Keith feeling like she was finally feeling comfortable in her own skin, or in her own armour now that they were half way through   
“Fine. We keep them... for now. Who knows when you might need a spare kidney or two”  
“There’s three of us, that’s six kidneys”  
Keith didn’t expect that from Shiro. Pike gaped at Shiro, before starting to laugh, Keith prodding him in the side as he asked  
“What’s so funny?”  
Pike wiped at a stray tear from laughing as hard as he did, his smile so wide Keith felt like he was seeing Lance showing through the fellinwere   
“We’re in a creepy memory labyrinth and we’re arguing over kidneys... there has to be something wrong with us”  
“Probably. Don’t worry, babe. I’ll protect your kidneys”  
“But who’s going to protect yours?”  
Keith quirked an eyebrow   
“You won’t?”  
Lance’s voice trembled with laughter   
“I’m too fat to stop your murder... how’s that going to look? Me waddling as Meklavar chases you for your kidneys... but her legs are so little she can’t catch you. I think I’m so tired I’ve finally gone loopy”  
Keith kind of wanted to see how that’d go. Pidge was trying to hide her smile behind her hand   
“Babe, you’ve always been loopy”  
“Loopier, then, Mister Correction. Aaaaaaanyway, we should probably actually move. It’s gonna take me forever to waddle around... I’m so damn round”  
“Should we push you over and roll you?”  
Pike rolled his eyes at him  
“I’ll push you over and roll you”  
“First you want Meklavar to harvest my kidneys, now you want to bash me up. Babe, where is the love?”  
“I love you plenty... Neck and Neck for life”  
“Great, now they’re being gay again. No more breaks between tasks!”

Pidge started walking off, the group left with the only option of following her.

*  
Keith’s task came next. The distance between his and Allura’s seemed long enough to be the combination of all the previous distances, almost making it a task in itself, especially with rocky terrain and rushing to rivers to navigate around. There were some points where the walls of the labyrinth were so far apart that it didn’t feel like they were still with in it. That and trying to scale up and down the slopes around the rivers had been hard on all of them. Hunk was the first of them to trip, falling face first into the water as he was checking to see how deep the drop away was around the stepping stones the needed to take to cross. Spluttering as he re-emerged, Hunk had a smile on his face, the water drinkable.

After the first river, there’d been two more. Hunk helping Pike as Keith helped Shiro keep his balance, especially on the creaking fallen tree they’d had to use to cross the last river. The tree had barely held their weight, Pidge jumping for it as it crumbled into torrenting water. Then came the last climb up a near vertical bank of loose stones... all of them collapsing at the top, surprised and relieved to have made it in one peace. Pike had pushed himself far enough to throw up, while Allura looked haggard from how drained her task had left her. Their enthusiasm for getting out the labyrinth as fast as possible had been sapped, now they just wanted to make it to the next task without things getting even worse.

Sitting on the red podium was a sword, like the group had predicted. Keith wasn’t in the mood to stab anything other then the game. Pike was barely conscious, Hunk carrying him from the top of the river bank and through the twists and turns, rallying hard despite still being damp from falling in. Allura and Shiro had their arms around each other’s waists, making it hard to tell who was supporting who. If the game wanted their energy, it’d definitely gotten a good dose between the podiums. Pidge had stopped her attempts at commentarial relief, she’d helped Pike down off Hunk’s back and now sat with Pike’s head in her lap, stroking his hair as she stared up at Keith   
“He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”  
Keith honesty didn’t know. Lance’s energy levels were yo-yoing. They were close to the end, and Ryndery’s words had him worried all over again about the health of his boyfriend   
“I don’t know. He pushed himself too hard and that was definitely not a fun experience”

“That was a trial in itself”  
Standing a little straighter, it didn’t do much to make Allura look any less tired. Coran would have worried himself sick if he could see her. They all could only nod at her words, the princess continuing   
“I think we need to be realistic here. Pike isn’t up to moving any further, not when he’s pushed himself to being physically ill with exhaustion. We all said we should push on, but perhaps we should make camp here for now. If we get some rest, we’ll be able to clear the next three trials easier. I know it means having to stay in this maze, but right now we’re all too exhausted. I won’t push my suggestion on any of you, but we are a team, so I want to hear your suggestions”

Hunk was first to reply   
“I could carry him... between this trial and the next... then maybe Keith could?”  
Pidge countered  
“You’re exhausted from carrying him as it is. I’m not blaming Lance for this. This is the games fault. And we all want to get out of here as soon as possible, but he’s not in a good way. I don’t want to lose my brother because we pushed too hard when we should have waited”  
Shiro nodded at Pidge  
“I agree. I don’t want to spend longer than we have to here, but even if it’s for a few vargas we should all rest. It’s hard enough with the physical side of things, let alone the emotional. We all feel like we’ve let him down, so it’s our duty as his friends to be with him to the very end of this thing”

All eyes went to Keith... who didn’t want to rest. He didn’t want to fight, as he was clearly going to have to in his trial, but...  
“We don’t know if he’s going to die... I can’t get Ryndery out my head... I... I don’t want him die here... in this place. Surrounded by walls made of his worst memories”  
Shit... he was getting teary, as emotionally exhausted as the others, and then some. This was his boyfriend. Lance always tried to push through everything that happened and now he had nothing left to give. If Pike died, Lance died with him  
“I don’t want him to die either... but we’re all exhausted... I don’t know what to do to help him”  
Pidge’s eyes welled with tears. None of them wanted to lose Lance. What he was about to do the team was cruel, but losing Pike meant losing not just his best friend, but the man he wanted to bonded to for the rest of their lives. Clenching his fists, he felt like that scared confused teenager he’d been when he’d lost Shiro for the first time  
“I don’t know what to do. I’m supposed to be the leader but we’re all at the mercy of this fucking place. If you want to rest, please... please don’t make me choose... I can’t choose one way or the other”

“What about a compromise?”  
Keith didn’t see how one was possible, but he wasn’t thinking rationally. Shiro’s question sparked a small glimmer of hope  
“What do you mean?”  
“We rest, but only long enough for you to complete your trial. Then Pidge and I will scout ahead and see what the next bit is like. If it’s too much for us right now, we’ll come back and tell the group. Then we’ll make the decision together”  
“I don’t think splitting up is the right idea”  
“Keith, we’re not splitting up. Pidge and I won’t be engaging in anything. Simple recon, that’s all”  
“We don’t know if the game will allow that”  
“And we don’t not know that it will”

“Guys, what if we’ve been doing this wrong all along?”  
Pidge’s voice was soft, so she wouldn’t disturb Pike. Keith didn’t need another question hanging over his head right now, but given they were working as a team, everyone had a voice  
“What do you mean?”  
“I was just thinking... Allura’s exhausted from her trial, and Pike is so tired he wouldn’t be able to perform one as it is. Maybe this is something we’re supposed to do as a team, but we’re doing it wrong”  
Keith wasn’t sure he got it, Hunk saving him asking   
“You saw the barrier. No one could touch the first podium apart from you”  
“I know. But what was the first thing that happened? Dark saw Pike’s memories. Then we decided as a group that we shouldn’t touch the walls. We decided as a group not to face Pike’s memories. The memories that hurt. Isn’t it kind of like saying we know they exist but we’re going to ignore them again. To use the podium we had to see how we hurt him... but what if we’re supposed to do it as a team. Like all of us at once? He’s bugged us in the past before about how sharing a problem can help make things easier and hurt less... The game is vindictive, but it’s also brought us all together. Pike’s fought the game before. Like when he brought Block in... I’m probably wrong... When it comes to Pike’s trial, what’s going to happen when he touches the wall? Is he going to see all the times he hurt us?”

Hunk groaned at Pidge   
“You couldn’t have had this epiphany earlier?”  
Pidge shook her head  
“I wasn’t tired enough to let my brain run on backup mode. It makes no sense so maybe it makes sense here?”  
Keith was kind of certain it didn’t work that way. Plus, there had to be memories here that Lance himself had forgotten. His boyfriend knew he’d hurt the others, but he always tried to apologise, sometimes too much  
“But why would the game want us to stay together?”  
Pidge bit her lip, Hunk groaning as he brought his hands to his face   
“It’s like Coran warned us. Pike is nearly out of energy so the game needs us to keep it supplied. If we rest longer, we’re in the game longer, meaning it’s draining more of our energy. The less energy we have, the slower we get through here. Pidge’s brain is constantly racing and making new connections, so her thoughts are always coming back to a focal point. We’ve been focusing on this wrong, haven’t we?”

Pidge worried her bottom lip, her self confidence slipping further away by the tick  
“I mean, I could be wrong and the game could be relying on thinking that and it’s not, or maybe it’s a double bluff...? And it thinks that I think that it thinks...”  
Shiro softly reassured her  
“Meklavar, it’s okay. If you think that’s what we need to do, then that’s what we’ll do”  
“But I don’t know... I don’t want to be snooping around in his head hole if it’s only going to make things worse...”  
“We’re all a team. We’ll get through this together. Dark, should we try it?”  
Keith’d already said he didn’t want to be responsible... There was logic in Pidge’s argument, but it seemed too logical for the game... but Pike... Quiznak... He had to everything he could for his future mate. They had no right poking around in Lance’s head... yet... fuck...  
“We can try. For his sake... I’ll hold him”  
If this backfired, Keith wanted to be the one... who held Lance... if he took his last breath after they’d gotten things so wrong. He couldn’t cope with this, now feeling like maybe stabbing something in his task would hurt his heart, and his head, less than what they were about to do.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Casually strolls back in like it hasn’t been a stupidly long time... I’m sorry! Bat Lance has been taking up all my time, despite promising this story took lead

Paused before the wall, nervousness ran through the team. Pike was held protectively against Keith in a silent agreement as Lance’s alpha Keith had the right to be the one to feel Lance’s warmth one last time should something go wrong. Meeting eyes, they all pushed aside that deep gut rolling feeling, reaching out as a team to place their hands against the wall. This time when the memories flowed, they all felt and experienced the same memories. Memories of the times Lance had hurt their feelings. Their feelings flowing into each other in the closest thing Keith had felt to a mind meld since the last time Coran had bossed them into team bonding and the castle had been lost. Gradually and surely, the feelings changed, those dark memories shifting to softer times as a pack. Lance’s pride in his pack. His frustrations over when their dynamics flared and he wanted to smack their heads together. His embarrassment over the things they did that made his beta side acted too omega like, swooning with pride for his pack as he stomped it down... and god... so many feelings. He’d truly liked Allura. Seeing Lotor steal her heart hurt, but his feelings for Keith had been just as intense. Memories of reaching out to Keith only to find no reply. Memories of Lance fighting with Red. The idiot promising Red he’d find him a new Paladin on Earth if he just stuck with Lance a little longer. 

It was a lot. It was more than a lot. Everything flittering through like drops of rain, something they couldn’t quite grab onto before it was gone. Maybe it was bad of him not to focus on everything. Lance’s hurt and Lance’s love... it meant more than his moments... even if now his pack understood what happened with Kuron. Lance really did love him. He loved all of them. There

The terrain beneath them trembled. The dirt turning to smooth grass, as they fell into each other. Holding tight as a team, they all knew they had a whole damn lot they needed to talk about, but it was like a breath of fresh air had hit the team. Keith felt lighter for it. Pike, hadn’t returned to Lance, but his eyes were open now, all of them kind of crushing the fellinwere in a pack cuddle.

“Jesus Fucking Christ. Can we stop with the team memories already. We get it. We sucked! We hear you game! We sucked and we know it!”  
Keith snorted at Pidge’s rant, which was promptly followed by Shiro smacking her upside the back of her head  
“What was that for?”  
Shiro cleared his throat, only his brother could make one word sound both apologetic and indifferent at the same time  
“Habit”  
“Well stop it. I’m getting a permanent dent in the back of my head from all the times you’ve hit me”  
“Maybe you should have learned your lesson by now”  
“You’re not my pack leader. Our pack leader swears as much as I do”  
“Yes, well. He’s... a handful too. Pike, are you okay?”

Pike was crying. Keith pulling him back as the hug mutually dissolved   
“Pike?”  
Pike rubbed at his arm, Keith drawing him close and kissing his temple  
“Sorry. Feeling a lot right now. We did suck as a team... I didn’t do a very good job playing my part”  
“Pike. This game is shit. Don’t let it get you down now that you’re back on your feet”  
Shiro didn’t smack Pidge this time, though Pidge did duck in anticipation. Pike gave a small nervous laugh   
“It really is awful. I’m feeling better now. I felt like I was fading away before”  
Keith didn’t like the sound of that. The expression on their pack mates faces said they didn’t either   
“Babe, what do you mean?”  
“I don’t know... like I disappearing. Like I was on the outside of my body and I might not ever be back inside. I felt Meklavar holding me, but I just didn’t have the strength to open my eyes”

Keith and Shiro traded a glance. The walls of the maze hadn’t dropped, but they didn’t have time for that now. Pike didn’t have time for that now  
“Block, I want you and Vala to watch Pike. Pike, you feel yourself slipping, you tell us. Gyro, you and Meklavar watch behind in case the podium triggers something. We have no choice but to double time it”  
“What... wait...”  
Keith kissed Pike’s hair, cutting off his boyfriend’s objections   
“We’re getting out of here with you. You feel faint or tired, you tell us”

Keith’s task wasn’t the best for the distracted Paladin. Five large bots like the ones they used to have in the castle training room formed from thin air, landing to surround him as a blade formed on the podium  
“Dark!”  
Pike called his name out, the bots circled everyone, not just him. Was this Lance’s fear? A memory bleeding into his task? Did his boyfriend fear a situation where Keith would have to protect them all with his blade without them able to help? Something had changed from sharing their memories, they’d all felt the earth shift  
“Guys, watch each other!”

Running towards the first bot, the other bots moved faster than any of the levels had trained to. Like the castle bots, they worked together, not giving him any opportunities to gain ground. With the others behind him, namely Pike, he couldn’t focus enough on the fight here. Throwing himself down, Keith skidded beneath the bot to his left, rolling and taking off, trying to put distance between his pack and the fight. If he fucked up, he didn’t want Pike seeing him hurt. 

Making it to the maze corner before the bots, he had the advantage now. They were forced to face him without having him surrounded. Patience might yield focus, yet he was all out of patience. With how courageous Pike had been, he half expected his boyfriend to come running and leap up on the back of one of them as he screamed about not touching his boyfriend. Lance might have a million and one fears, but he was pretty bad arse when he set his mind to it. He’d always kind of been that way. What kind of idiot uses their body to protect a man from an explosion when they’d barely even met? His idiot. Being a Paladin again meant he no longer felt the extra welling of strength that came with being a Barbarian. No, he felt stronger thinking of Lance and the life waiting for them outside of the game. His omega. His mate. He didn’t know how to court, but he was sure Lance would tell him along the way. Their pack was stronger than ever. Their omega would be there to keep them all in line... He had to kill the bots to take his life back.

It was a frenzied fight. Keith threw all he could at the bots, even when they literally picked him up and threw him down. He’d smacked his head hard enough for blood to be oozing from somewhere on his forehead, been kicked in the ribs hard enough to feel like something was broken in there, but every time he went down, he pushed himself back up. The pack had made it this far and he wasn’t about to let them down. Mirroring Lance’s gargoyle move, he’d leapt on the back on a bot, its companion downing it as it tried to swing at him. Using the strength he could, the bot toppled into the second, Keith driving his sword down into his mechanical head, almost wishing Pike could see how much of a suitable mate he was... but then again, Pike had always believed in him. Lance had always believed in him. Even when he couldn’t believe in himself.

As the third and forth bots went down, the team finally appeared at the end of the maze corridor. Being the idiot he was, he found himself smiling at Pike being on his feet. He really was terribly cute, hands on his swollen stomach as he scowled at Keith for running off. Keith knew he was in trouble for getting hurt, but he didn’t care. The last bot was his, and he wasn’t holding anything back. Dodging the blow aimed at him, Keith drove his blade through the bots chest, electricity crackling briefly before the bot vanished and he was left swaying on the spot, the blade in his hand disintegrated into thin air.

Letting himself flop down to catch his breath, he smiled that his task was done, despite feeling like warmed up quiznak from being hit. Kicked in the leg, he opened his eyes to find it’d been Pidge. Her hands on her hips as she glared at him  
“I’m okay”  
“You don’t look okay. What were you thinking?! We’re a team!”  
“I was thinking of your safety”  
Pidge kicked him in the leg again  
“I’m going to have to beat that nonsense out of you. I know it was your trail but you scared us the way you bolted”  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know if they’d go for you, and I know you guys can handle yourselves, but I was the only one with a weapon”  
“That doesn’t mean...”

Pidge stalled as Shiro placed his hand on her shoulder  
“That’s enough. He made the same call I would have. Are you okay, kiddo?”  
Pidge glared up at Shiro. Keith knew she would have made the same choice too. They all cared about each other not to  
“I’ll be okay... they got me, but it’ll heal”  
Finally catching up, Pike waddled over, tail flicking and ears down  
“What the fuck was that?”  
Keith flinched. It was different coming from Pike  
“I know. I’m stupid”  
“We agreed to be a team”  
“I know... I look worse than I feel”  
“That’s nice to know because you look like a moron. Seriously, if I were pregnant, I would have gone into labour over that. Don’t ever do that to me again”

Pike reached his hand out, Keith taking it. Letting himself be pulled up, his boyfriend kissed the wound on his head   
“I’m mad at you”  
“I know you are”  
“You always do this”  
“I know”  
“I hate that I feel the same way... and I hate that I would have made the same choice. We’re all awful at this...”  
Keith tried not to let his sore ribs show as he wrapped his arm around Pike, forcing a laugh   
“We are. I’m okay, and my trial is over now”  
“I’m still going to kick your arse later”  
“Just not my leg. Pidge kicked me twice”  
Pike huffed at him   
“I should have done the same. Stupid belly”  
“It’s not a stupid belly”  
Pike huffed again, crossing his arms and looking cranky  
“Right. Next time you can be the one waddling around and I’ll be the cool one”  
“Awww, babe. You think I’m cool”

Pike threw his hands in the air  
“Why am I dating you? You’re impossible”  
“Actually, I’m Keith”  
Their whole group groaned. Shiro managing to look disappointed in him for his lameness. Pidge had had enough, gesturing as she spoke  
“This right here is why they’re dating. Two halves of the same damn idiot”  
“Guys, maybe we should keep moving? I don’t want the bots to come back in another wave”  
Hunk worried his pointed fingers together, Allura nodding at his words  
“Though I do not believe they will, we should aim to reach the next trail as soon as possible”  
Shiro backed her up  
“Vala is right. Dark, you’ll fall into the middle with Pike seeing your injured. Block, you take lead”  
Hunk nodded, the big guy being brave despite the shit storm that was this labyrinth. Shooting them a “Dad” smile, Shiro seemed relieved they hadn’t squabbled over the formation change  
“Okay. Let’s go!”

*  
The terrain remained level between Keith’s task and Shiro’s. The outside of the podium white, and through logic, it could only be Shiro’s task. For Keith things weren’t going that great. Things were blurry, and Pike definitely knew he was injured. As they reached the podium, Keith stumbled, Pidge moving to his side to prop him back up   
“You’re hurt, aren’t you?”  
Torn between the need to get out the labyrinth and the newfound rekindled team trust, Keith chose his team, knowing he’d make them mad   
“I messed up my ribs... rather, they did. And I’m a bit light headed...”  
“You idiot, you should have said. Not cool, babe”  
Pike sighing at him didn’t make him feel better. Pretty much what he’d expected from his boyfriend. Softly, Hunk asked  
“Dude, are you going to be okay to continue?”  
And stubbornly Keith replied   
“I’ll be fine...”

Letting his sentence hang, Keith realised Pike was already staring at the podium, and not at him... Was it weird he expected more concern?  
“Pike?”  
“Block, you and Vala take look at his chest, he might need his ribs bound for now. Meklavar, you stand guard. I’ll help Gyro with his task”  
Pidge straight away replied  
“We don’t know what his task is”  
“This is Gyro. He’s pretty amazing with his observations. I know I’m not as smart as you guys, but you’ve got more mobility than I do thanks to this stomach. Use Block’s headband for his ribs. Gyro, we need you to start your task”

Keith was going to blame the head wound for the spike of desire he felt in his stomach. Pike was hot when he was in command, and his boyfriend’s tone left no room for argument if they knew what was good for them. Lance was always good at knowing what needed to be done, he wasn’t great at communicating it though, but that was because he constantly second guessed himself. Pike knew this, being an aspect of Lance after all. As pack leader, Lance would share the position as his mate. Lance might think himself lacking, but Keith knew otherwise. Lance had kept them together for so long, while keeping his secret. Keith might be backwards on omegas, but he knew Lance’s nature would make him the kind of pack mother they needed. Him being more in touch with his omega side would only draw out the better aspects once the others accepted Lance was in a courting relationship with their pack leader. Drawing his brow, Keith wasn’t sure his thoughts were actually making sense as he tried to think on it harder. He hadn’t contradicted Pike on his self insult and now he couldn’t quite work out why when his boyfriend was so smart.

“Shut up. You’re not allowed to put yourself down”  
Scolded by Pidge, Pike snorted, holding his hands up in surrender   
“Okay. Okay. But it’s probably going to take a bit”  
“I’ll have to add beating you up to my daily list of jobs. I’ve already got to beat the self sacrifice out of Dork”  
Pike snorted again, the sound completely different as this was tinged with sadness  
“You’d have better luck getting the pearl out of me than getting him under control”  
“Don’t belittle my fist of love”  
Pike out on a solemn tone  
“I would never. Maybe don’t break it out it until once we’ve passed the Labyrinth? We can’t carry him if you’ve beaten him up too much”  
“Fiiiiiiine. Dark, you’re lucky Pike’s here to protect you”  
“I know I am. You’re fierce for a gremlin”  
“Damn right I am. Now shut it and cooperate”

Keith tried to watch Shiro’s task over Pidge’s shoulder. There floating lights that flashed brightly in different colours. As he couldn’t see the podium, Keith didn’t know what the lights meant, only that they seemed to flash rhythmically. Deciding to wrap his ribs, Hunk’s bandanna didn’t reach around enough, flimsy and hardly worth being tied around him. Licking her thumb, Pidge rubbed at the tender spot on his head, their Pidgeon seemed to be taking her revenge with the hardness of her rubbing, Keith knew better than to mention it, lest she rub harder. Closing his eyes, they felt liked only just closed before Allura let out a cheer, clapping and obviously happy Shiro had passed his task  
“Well done you two! Pike, that was quite impressive”  
“That was all Shiro”  
“You need to take the praise. Shiro would have missed that third yellow had you not pointed it out”  
“He did all the hard work”  
Pike sounded embarrassed, Keith forcing his eyes open in an attempt to see what kind of expression his boyfriend was making. Allura was in the way, so he couldn’t see, disappointingly   
“You both worked hard. Congratulations!”

Shiro’s voice joined in to back up Allura, praising Pike  
“Pike, she is right. You did well to memorise the order”  
“It’s nothing... you get used to it when your... well. It’s nothing compared to the observations you make”  
“Don’t sell yourself so short. That was a hard sequence. You’re the one who pointed out that the loop seemed to restart without a pause”  
“On the third time through”  
Lance sounded disappointed in how long it’d taken, Shiro brushing it off  
“I was waiting for that break. And that yellow, I was sure it only flashed the twice”  
“It pulsed really fast the second time. Anyway, how’s Dark. What’s the prognosis?”  
Deflection. Pike had come a long way, he still has so much healing to do as Lance. Pidge let out a long sigh, kicking Keith in the boot lightly before answering  
“He’ll live. Bruised ribs, and a concussion, I’d say. Those bots weren’t holding back”  
“Babe! You need to speak up. I’ll help him, heaven knows what’ll be coming up next.   
15 minutes to solve a colour puzzle, somewhere out there someone is laughing”

Keith couldn’t have been sitting that long. It hadn’t felt like 15 minutes of his life had been spent sitting on the ground being poked at. There was that strange feeling of it being longer and shorter at the same time  
“What exactly was the task?”  
Hunk frowned at him as he tilted his head  
“Dark, bud, weren’t you listening?”  
He was. He simply wanted to be sure in case these tasks had some kind of later relevance   
“Repeating lights?”  
“Don’t scare us like that. I thought your concussion was worse than I realised”  
He had to stop worrying Pidge  
“Sorry, Meklavar. I couldn’t see... over you. That and your amazing medical aid”  
Pidge scowled, Keith not forgiven despite the sucking up  
“It was a repeating sequence of flashing colours that Gyro had to press the corresponding colours on the podium. 5 different colours and 13 lights”  
Hunk corrected her  
“17 lights”  
“It was definitely 13”

Pike pushed his way between the pair, stopping to stand with his hands on his hips, pushing his stomach out to stretch his back. So cute... Pike was so cute  
“Don’t listen to them. They’re both wrong. There were 18 lights in a loop, flashing at different speeds and in different spaces. How are you feeling?”  
About the same as he had, maybe a tad worse because he’d had to take his armour off then get the damn pieces back on  
“Meklavar and Block did what they could. What about you?”  
“My back really freakin’ hurts... I have a whole new appreciation for my mum”  
Keith could only sympathised, before his brother surprised him by saying   
“Just wait until you and Dark have children.... if they’re as active as the pair of you, you’ll be in for a handful”

Pike’s ears flatted, arms crossing to “hide” his belly, as he bit his bottom lip  
“Don’t scare him. Babe, you’re okay”  
“Yeah. We better go though”  
Holding his hands out, Hunk and Allura helped Keith up. Keith then holding his hand out, Pike shuffling over to him as he stared at his feet. The others didn’t get what was going on in Pike’s head, but Keith did. Kissing Pike’s hair, the fellinwere sighed softly, Keith reassuring him  
“Only a little bit further. Then we’ll be out this stupid place”  
“Yeah... Are you sure you’re okay to move?”  
“I’ll be okay, all the better now you’re beside me”  
Pike blushed softly, though he didn’t lose his distant look  
“Babe, we’ve come this far. We’ll work it all out together”  
“I know... I’m really nervous about what’s waiting for us”  
“The trials should be over now...”  
“You know that’s not what I mean”  
“Yeah... It’s no use worrying for now. Let’s get moving. I want to get out of this place as soon as possible”  
“Me too. I don’t like it here”  
Pike meant he didn’t like his head being open for anyone to access his memories... not that they were going to. Lifting his boyfriend’s right hand of his belly, Keith kissed the back off it  
“I promise we’ll get through it together”


End file.
